Representatives from 29 countries and 44 indigenous media gathered in Paris, France, on 26 and 27 November 2024 at the UNESCO headquarters to discuss the protection and sustainability of indigenous media, which is vital for both media pluralism and the full participation of different ethnic groups in public and political processes. Latvia was represented at the Experts Meeting and the Media Partnership Forum on Indigenous Peoples and the Media by Rita Ruduša, a journalist and former representative of Latvia in the Communication Development Program of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
The purpose of the UNESCO’s Media Partnership Forum is to foster dialogue among media professionals to improve indigenous access to information and indigenous media collaboration and quality. Indigenous people and leading media experts participated in the conference and during two-day discussions analysed good practices in the representation of indigenous peoples in the media, and listened to the first results of the global UNESCO “Study on Indigenous People in Media”, as well as developing specific recommendations on how to implement more effectively Article 16 of the Declaration of the United Nations “On the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”. The article reads as follows: “Indigenous peoples have the right to establish their own media in their own languages and to have access to all forms of non-indigenous media without discrimination. [..] States shall take effective measures to ensure that State-owned media duly reflect indigenous cultural diversity. States, without prejudice to ensuring full freedom of expression, should encourage privately owned media to adequately reflect indigenous cultural diversity.”
Rita Ruduša was the rapporteur for the forum's panel discussion “Indigenous Voices through Free, Independent and Viable Media” and spoke about Latvia's contribution to preserving the heritage of its indigenous people and media creation. Latvia’s contribution to the forum's recommendations was a proposal to introduce support mechanisms for promoting the creation of indigenous media. According to the UNESCO Atlas of World Languages, the Livonian language is in the category of critically endangered languages, and for its sustainability, it is essential to ensure not only the representation of Livonian culture in public media, but also the opportunity to publish their own media.
Rita Ruduša’s participation in the conference is a continuation of support by the Latvian Representation to UNESCO for the UN International Decade of Indigenous Languages.
The UN International Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022-2032) is a ten-year series initiatives and activities proclaimed by the UN and administered by UNESCO, designed to draw attention to the diversity of the world's languages, especially indigenous languages, which make up the majority of the approximately 7,000 languages spoken in the world, which at the same time, are also under constant threat. Latvia and Livonians have been actively involved in the preparation for the decade: Latvia is currently represented in the global initiative group of the decade by Valts Ernštreits, Director of the Livonian Institute at the University of Latvia.
The participation in the event was implemented as part of the public diplomacy programme in support of the lobby campaign of Latvia’s candidacy for the United Nations Security Council. The campaign under the motto of “Together for peace and resilience” aims at ensuring successful election of Latvia to the United Nations Security Council for the 2026–2027 term in the 2025 election, at which Latvia is running for an elected member’s seat for the first time. Membership of the UNSC will be a key instrument in pursuit and protection of Latvia’s foreign policy interests, as well as making it possible for Latvia to expand the scale of its international cooperation and thereby contributing to world peace and resilience.
