The International Amateur Radio Union announces that Human Security for All, HS4A, will be the theme of World Amateur Radio Day on 18 April 2023. For the first time, the United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security and the World Academy of Art and Science are partnering with IARU in a campaign to highlight the role that amateur radio plays in addressing the world’s most pressing needs.
Human Security measures security at the individual level. First introduced by the U.N. in 1994, the concept identifies seven interrelated dimensions of security that are essential to an individual’s wellbeing: economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community and political.
The partners believe Amateur Radio is uniquely positioned to address people-centered, context-specific security challenges by promoting technical knowledge, practical skills, innovative technology, and the deployment of backup systems at the community level that can be called upon in times of emergency. The pandemic, climate change, natural disasters, and armed conflicts on several continents undermine our security and respect no boundaries. Amateur Radio has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to address human security needs. It is a truly global communications medium comprising some three million radio enthusiasts connecting communities and the peoples of the world.
IARU, a federation of the national amateur radio societies of over 150 countries worldwide, is the global advocate for amateur radio through its Sector Membership in the International Telecommunication Union, an agency of the U.N., and other activities. In celebration of World Amateur Radio Day, IARU and its member-societies will be conducting a special two-week on-the-air event 11–25 April. Special event stations will be operating from around the world, making two-way radio contacts to call attention to the HS4A campaign.