wfn.org | WACC Statement - Day of the World's Indigenous People

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

> PRESS RELEASE: EMBARGOED TILL AUGUST 9, 2009

On the International Day of the World?s Indigenous People, August 9,
2009, the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) calls
for recognition of Indigenous Peoples? communication rights as
integral to their human rights.

?Such rights are not just a matter of civil and political rights, but
include economic, social and cultural rights? says the Rev. Randy
Naylor, WACC General Secretary. ?Implementation of human rights
demands recognition of communication rights ? those rights that
empower individuals and communities to express their needs, to make
their voices heard, and to participate fully in their own development.?

Russell Pemba expressed similar sentiments on behalf of the Mayan
Collective El Jornalero, a WACC supported project in Yucatán, Mexico.
?Our Mayan forebears, those of the ancient words, visionaries of time
and the stars, weavers of ideas, left us an invaluable inheritance:
their words, written in books and codices, spoken daily in our
communities. For us those words are the symbol of our communication.?

Today, Mayan communities and indigenous peoples elsewhere are
witnessing the silencing of those words. For indigenous communities,
access to information and the media are endorsed in a number of
international agreements which also recognize their right to create
their own media. In some cases, that right is also consecrated in the
country?s Constitution.

And yet governments in many countries including, among others, Mexico,
Honduras and Chile, have recently attempted to repress and in some
cases have defeated indigenous efforts to create their own media. The
Mayan collective El Jornalero of Yucatán, México, says: ?Enough. We
have the right to exist!?

In 2006 Latin American indigenous communicators called on participants
attending the World Congress on Communication Development in Rome to
ensure that indigenous people?s voices and ideas are heard and are a
matter of priority in development plans.

The following year the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
approved by the UN General Assembly in 2007 recognized Indigenous
peoples? communication rights in several of its articles. The
statement reaffirmed, ?that communication is a fundamental element for
liberation, transformation and social development and the full
enjoyment of the rights of indigenous peoples. We demand conditions to
guarantee the exercise of the right to communication and development
of indigenous peoples, linked to equitable access to the media and to
information and communication.?

As the Second Decade of Indigenous Peoples enters its fourth year, it
is time to implement all the recommendations contained in the UN
Declaration and to encourage governments, non-governmental
organisations and the private sector to recognise that the
recommendations must be translated into concrete policies if
Indigenous Peoples are to participate on equal terms in national and
international life.

WACC celebrates and commends the recognition of rights in the new
constitution of Bolivia, a country where indigenous people constitute
more than 57% of the population. And WACC will continue to work
alongside secular and faith-based organisations to ensure that
Indigenous Peoples? communication rights are part of the agenda to
redress the historical, social, political, and economic
marginalization of Indigenous Peoples around the globe. www.waccglobal.org

For more information contact: TA@waccglobal.org
Communication Rights Programme Manager

WACC promotes communication for social change. It believes that
communication is a basic human right that defines people's common
humanity, strengthens cultures, enables participation, creates
community and challenges tyranny and oppression.