admin | February 9, 2015
The first World Radio Day was officially celebrated in 2012. Now, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) celebrates World Radio Day each year by planning activities with broadcasters, organizations and communities around the world.
Despite the technology having existed for more than one hundred years, radio is still one of the most popular ways to exchange information, educate people, and provide opportunities for social exchange. Radio is often used to help people, including young listeners, engage in discussions on topics that affect them. It can save lives during natural or human-made disasters, and it gives journalists a platform to tell their stories and report the facts.
The UNESCO World Radio Day website is updated every Thursday. It features suggestions on how to celebrate the Day, program ideas, downloadable posters and banners, and a toolkit to help you link generations through radio. You can find out more at this address: http://www.diamundialradio.org/?q=en
The International Telecommunication Union is the UN’s specialized agency for information and communication technologies, or ICTs. The agency will hold a live global broadcast, plus exhibitions, demos, debates and a “hackathon,” as part of the theme for World Radio Day 2015: Youth and Innovation in Radio. You can read more about these events here:
http://www.itu.int/net/pressoffice/press_releases/2015/Advisory-01.aspx#.VNNdRmiUdqU
Don’t forget that Barza Wire/Farm Radio Weekly has celebrated World Radio Day since its inception in 2012. You can visit the Farm Radio Weekly archives to find stories, further resources and scripts to use in your World Radio Day programs.
You can read our 2014 issue, World Radio Day: Are you ready? here:
http://weekly.farmradio.org/topic/issue-278/.
Our 2013 issue Celebrating World Radio Day: Information is free via the airwaves is available at this link: http://weekly.farmradio.org/topic/issue-235/.
Two editions from 2012, Celebrating World Radio Day: Farmers all over Africa achieve success and satisfaction from listening to their radios (http://weekly.farmradio.org/topic/issue-188/) and More on World Radio Day: Stories from Burkina Faso and Zambia (http://weekly.farmradio.org/topic/issue-189/) are also available in our archives.