Mexican radio station win UNESCO-IPDC Prize for Rural Communication.

The Mexican community radio station “La voz de los campesinos” and the Egyptian journalist Amr Mamdou Ellisy will receive the UNESCO-IPDC Prize for Rural Communication on 24 March.

The two laureates will share the US$ 20,000 Prize, which recognizes meritorious and innovative effort to improve communication for rural communities in developing countries. It is awarded every two years following a recommendation by the Bureau of the Intergovernmental Council of UNESCO’s International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC), which acts as prize jury. The IPDC Council will hold its 27^th session at UNESCO Headquarters from 24 to 26 March.

The radio station “La voz de los campesinos (The Voice of the Peasants)”, founded 32 years ago in the eastern state of Veracruz, was the first indigenous community radio in Mexico. The station promotes interactive radio communication with communities, encouraging them to share their history, customs and music, and helps reinforce the collective rights of the indigenous populations of Veracruz. Programmes are transmitted in three local languages in addition to Spanish. Transmission covers 400 communities, approximately 100,000 people. “La voz de los campesinos” is part of the Latin American Association of Radio Education (ALER) and the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC).

The award ceremony took place on Wednesday 24 March at 5 p.m. at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.

http://www.sjsocial.org/fomento/documentos/xhfce.html

Contact:

Bernard Giansetto 33(0)1.45.68.17.40 / b.giansetto(at)unesco.org