84 PROMOTING AND PROTECTING MINORITY RIGHTS In recent years, UNESCO has adopted two important conventions related to the promotion of the cultural rights of minorities. The 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage provides safeguards and promotes the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge and skills – as well as the associated instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces – which communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage. The Convention establishes a fund and a system of listing representative and endangered heritage. Article 15 calls for the full participation of communities and others who create and maintain such heritage and their involvement in its active management. The 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions encourages States to incorporate culture as a strategic element in national and international development policies and adopt measures aimed at protecting and promoting the diversity of cultural expressions within their territory. It emphasizes the importance of recognizing equal dignity and respect for all cultures, including those of persons belonging to minorities, and the freedom to create, produce, disseminate, distribute and have access to traditional cultural expressions, and asks States to create environments conducive to this. The preamble to the Convention recognizes the importance of the vitality of cultures, including for persons belonging to minorities and indigenous peoples. Similarly, article 2 (3) reiterates the equal dignity of cultures, with specific reference to the cultures of minorities and indigenous peoples. Promotion of intercultural dialogue As lead agency for the 2001 United Nations Global Agenda for Dialogue among Civilizations,91 UNESCO attempts to relate more closely the principles of cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue. Through its programmes on intercultural and interfaith dialogue, UNESCO fosters reflection on the conditions for mainstreaming principles of cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue in policies for sustainable development, and on the search for transversal values, in the face of the new challenges of cultural diversity in the context of globalization. Celebration of the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, which was proclaimed by the General Assembly and is marked on 21 May each year, is of increasing importance. Under the auspices of UNESCO, it offers an opportunity to amplify reflection on the values of cultural diversity in order to learn to “live together” better. The media and communications Given their impact and reach, communications media can play a major role in protecting human rights and fighting discrimination. To be effective, journalism must be inclusive, reflect the composition, concerns and views of the whole community, and be accountable. Hence, journalists should develop sources who represent the diversity of thought, feeling and experience of the people they serve. UNESCO supports diversity inside the newsroom, and has supported both training initiatives (e.g., on investigative journalism on human rights and diversity) and the production of relevant handbooks for journalists (e.g., Reporting on Diversity). The Power of Peace Network is a stand-alone multimedia and ICT platform created by UNESCO. It has a sustainable, not-for-profit business structure and is designed to produce and distribute locally generated content through a network of collaborating television and radio services, satellite distributors, mobile phone companies and Internet providers.92 General Assembly resolution 56/6. 91 See http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=28488&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html (accessed 3 December 2012). 92