New York: UN officials have marked World Radio Day by calling for harnessing the enduring power of this vital medium to promote gender equality and women's empowerment and to amplify the voice of women over the air waves.
"Without the voices of more than half the world's population, how can we understand the whole story?" Irina Bokova, Director-General of Unesco, said in her message for the day that was observed Thursday.
In 2011, the Unesco General Conference proclaimed Feb 13 as World Radio Day, the day United Nations Radio was established in 1946. Radio is the most prevalent mass medium, with the ability to reach up to 95 percent of the world's population.
World Radio Day aims to celebrate radio as a medium, to improve international cooperation between broadcasters, and to encourage major networks and community radio alike to promote access to information, freedom of expression and gender equality over the airwaves.
This year, the day has a dual theme: To promote the voice of women over the air waves, and to enhance the role of women within broadcast organizations.
