Panama. - As a society it is essential to recognize and contribute towards the respect of indigenous peoples’ human rights. The universal values of freedom, equality, solidarity, tolerance, respect for nature, respect for others, and respect for cultures and languages, are essential in the safeguarding of respectful relations between human beings, communities and societies, and in order to address this issue it is important to first look at the sociocultural diversity of a country.
This project will focus on alternative methods of communication, to enable participants to develop communication within their respective communities, in order to improve their professional capacity and contribute to initiating improvement and development. With this initiative, the Fundación para la Educación en la Televisión (FETV) will provide support to indigenous groups in order to reinforce access to information, plurality, diversity of media and capacity building, and getting the balance right in terms of gender equality in journalism. One of the key goals of this project is the transformation of members of rural communities into a source of effective information, with real participation. By building links with many mass media outlets, effective communication channels can be created by which these communities will be able to voice their concerns and speak of their news and events to the rest of the country, which at present they seldom have the opportunity to do.
Fundación para la Educación en la Televisión (FETV)
Beneficiary description: FETV (La Fundación para la Educación en la Televisión), Channel 5, began in 1990 with the application for the required frequencies under which they broadcast their signal. In 1991 FETV obtained approval of these frequencies, as well as being appointed a non-profit education institution by the Ministry of Education. Its mission is to educate and increase cultural awareness of the Panamanian society, by providing wholesome entertainment and contributing to critical thinking through information, orientation and continuous dialogue, through producing programming content of a high quality. For over 15 years, as the foundation for education in television, FETV has been committed to building alternative communication spaces, promoting the sharing of ideas and dialogue through interaction and active participation, in an effort to help viewers acquire and seek knowledge to enable them to transform society.