World Radio Day is celebrated each year on February 13, This year’s theme is “Radio is You”
A two-hour live event on the theme of ‘Radio and Sustainable Development Goals’ was held at the PBC headquarters to mark World Radio Day 2017. The event was organized by Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) and United Nation Information Centre (UNIC).
World Radio Day is celebrated each year on Feb 13 since 2013 which marks the establishment of the United Nations Radio on February 13, 1946 just a year after the creation of the United Nations Organization. This year the theme of the World Radio Day is “Radio is You”.
Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, Maryam Aurangzeb was the chief guest on the occasion. Jeannete Seppen, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Pakistan and number of UN officials were also present at the event that was attended by more than 150 students, renowned newscasters and presenters of Radio Pakistan from the past.
Maryam Aurangzeb paid rich tributes to the legends of Radio Pakistan and praised the partnership betwee the UN in Pakistan and Radio Pakistan. “The efforts of Radio Pakistan, together with the UN family in creating awareness about the SDGs must be appreciated,” she added while announcing that Radio Pakistan will start a new programme ‘Pakistan This Week’, focusing on health, education, infrastructure development and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The state minister also informed that the government is about to introduce an internship program with Radio Pakistan on engaging the youth of Pakistan on Vision2030 and SDGs.
Jeannete Seppen, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Pakistan encouraged the youth of Pakistan to use radio for sharing diverse views and insights on Pakistan’s opportunities and challenges, such as women’s rights and freedom of expression.
Highlighting the collaborative ties between the United Nations and Radio Pakistan, UN Resident Coordinator Niel Buhne said that radio could be used to efficiently reach out to majority of population of a country. “Radio touches the most remote parts of the community, leaves no one behind and that is what sustainable development goals are about,” Niel Buhne added.
Talking about the World Radio Day, Anne Marchal, Deputy Head of the EU delegation in Pakistan said that it was celebrated to improve international cooperation between broadcasters. “The event also encouraged major radio networks and community radio stations alike to promote access to information, freedom of expression and gender equality over the airwaves,” she said.
Vibeke Jensen called on everyone to nurture the power of radio to foster the conversations and listening to tackle the challenges faced by humanity, adding that the role of radio was important for taking forward the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
While expressing his views to the participants and Radio Pakistan listeners tuned in to the live programme, Vittorio Cammarota said that development is a joint effort and media plays instrumental role with helping the UN in informing Pakistani people on how they can contribute to achieve SDGs.
“The UN in Pakistan has co-produced over 100 feature programmes with the support of Radio Pakistan in the past three years. It has helped us in giving our message to even the remotest places in Pakistan where battery operated radios are the only means for accessing information,” Vittorio Cammarota said.
Meanwhile, Ignacio Artaza, Country Director United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Daniel Timme, United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) also went on-air on a live program which focused on “Radio and Sustainable Development Goals”.