ERIC-Radio Progreso journalist Eleana Borjas delivers the day’s news in Tegucigalpa. Photo: ERIC-Radio Progreso
The support that organizations like Canadian Jesuits International (CJI) have provided to Jesuit-led ERIC-Radio Progreso has strengthened the capacity and advocacy efforts of local communities and social movements that are working to defend the rights of Hondurans.
ERIC-Radio Progreso, a Jesuit social centre involved in reflection, research, and broadcast communications, accompanies community organizations through training and advocacy, provides Hondurans with reliable information, and contributes to the strengthening of institutions so they can provide better service. These efforts help communities “search for solutions to their problems of social, environmental and economic vulnerability, from a justice and human rights approach,” said ERIC-Radio Progreso in a recent report sent to CJI.
Last December 9, for example, more than 2,000 people showed up for a town hall meeting in Tocoa, to voice their opposition against the Ecotek petroleum coke thermoelectric project and the Emco mining megaproject. However, the meeting was cancelled. “Seeing the large number of people who had come to vote against the project, Mayor Adan Funes refused to hold the open town hall,” said the report.
This show of strength was complemented by an open letter signed by more than 100 national and international organizations, including CJI, urging the Honduran authorities to respect the decision of the people of Tocoa to cancel the projects. Residents of the affected communities have raised concerns about the projects’ devastating impacts on health and the environment, as well as human rights violations against land and environmental defenders.
ERIC-Radio Progreso has helped strengthen citizenship and democratic participation through its Diploma in Environment and Human Rights, and Training for Political Formation. Recently, 105 representatives of 35 civil society organizations participated in these training programs, which have improved their ability to “fight for their rights and defend their territories,” the report said.
ERIC-Radio Progreso said it has also achieved “quality broadcast communication, research and transmedia production” content that help guarantee the Honduran people’s right to information. Access to fair and truthful information not only allows them to have an informed opinion, but also promotes healthy social debate, the report said. It cited an audience study that showed that ERIC-RADIO Progreso is one of the top five radio stations in the country. About one million people tune in to its radio programs, and about 5,000 people watch its multimedia productions daily.
The work of ERIC-Radio Progreso’s network of correspondents (19 men and 11 women from different civil society organizations) has brought local issues and demands, including the defense of territories and access to justice, onto the national agenda, the report says.
It has shed light on the plight of the Moskitia, the region with the second largest Indigenous population in Honduras, which is also one of the poorest, most neglected areas in the country. A majority of the Miskito population not only experience high levels of food insecurity, but they also continue to be deprived of their rights to land, territories and natural resources.
ERIC-Radio Progreso has reported on alleged corruption within the National Electric Energy Company, “which has an impact on the overvaluation of prices and on consumers,” said the report.
Here are some testimonials from local activists who have benefited from their training programs:
María Felicita López
“We have been working in groups to analyze the laws and legal frameworks that we need to know, as well as the law on defenders. These are the basic tools that leaders and defenders need to know and understand in order to be able to defend human rights…I was happy to be part of this process and we hope that it will continue to be given to other people.”
Claudia Liseth López
“I have benefitted from information about everything related to environmental legislation, treaties, agreements and regulations that I did not know before.”
Dereck Zuniga
“I think it is necessary to know the norms and laws that govern the environmental situation in the country because we can have better tools to obtain a legal basis to be able to defend what others want to take away from us. I am aware that we still have many challenges, but by educating myself I can motivate others who can participate in these trainings.”
Edwin Ponce
“It really has been a quite significant process on a personal level because this really empowers me to be able to have a greater knowledge of what instruments exist so we can have a greater impact as human rights and environmental defenders.”
