Podcasts to raise the voices of minority and indigenous peoples

Minority Rights Group, an ESCR-net member, publishes a monthly podcast called Minority Voices in order to increase the inclusion of minority and indigenous people’s perspectives in the media. 

Minority Rights Group works with partners worldwide to ensure that disadvantaged minorities and indigenous peoples, often the poorest of the poor, can make their voices heard.  Through training and education, legal cases, as well as these podcasts, this group endeavors to support minority and indigenous peoples as they strive to maintain their rights to express their religious and cultural traditions, to the land they live on, to the languages they speak, to equal opportunities in education and employment, and to full participation in public life.  Further, by utilizing this form of communication, Minority Voices hopes to increase awareness among development policy-makers of the specific needs of minorities and indigenous communities. 

In the most recent Minority Voices podcast, Massai women are asked for their views on female circumcision and a staff member recounts her experiences during a recent trip to Iraq.  Past podcasts touch on various issues such as statelessness in the Dominican Republic, challenges of multiple discrimination, Syrian refugee children in Lebanon, Afro-descendants around the world and women in post-conflict Sri Lanka.  By showcasing minority stories from around the world, this method of visual storytelling brings the lives of minority and indigenous groups into focus by offering in-depth multi-media story packs covering important topics. 

To learn more about Minority Voices, click here.