91�鶹������Ʒ����

In her opening statement, Dorothy Gordon congratulated the IFAP Secretariat for convening a successful Orientation Meeting of the Intergovernmental Council for IFAP, reuniting above 60 delegates. Ms Gordon also called attention to the successful Brainstorming Session on UNESCO’s Ethics Artificial Intelligence convened by the IFAP Working Group on Information Ethics, which, enabled a valuable exchange of perspectives regarding the  Recommendation by over 125 experts and stakeholders across the world. The IFAP Chair called on the IFAP community and UNESCO experts and Sectors to join forces towards fruitful co-creation and knowledge sharing.

IFAP’s main strength - the commitment of its Member States - is well reflected in their deep engagement in organizing activities, events, and initiatives, and in contributing insights to policies and recommendations in IFAP’s priority areas. Since the 32^nd IFAP Bureau meeting, 6 IFAP projects have been implemented, generating valuable contributions.

Partnerships, ongoing and new, have been recognized as fundamental to IFAP’s development by the experts and specialists of the IFAP Bureau. In the meeting, the IFAP Bureau commended the long-term partnership with the , which has led to important joint initiatives over the years and encouraged the IFAP community to explore and identify new partnerships.

Whilst discussing the growing impact of the digital transformation on the information landscape, the IFAP Bureau underscored the transversal action of IFAP in contributing to UNESCO’s  Mid-Term Strategy (C/4) and Programme and Budget (C/5), by developing digital competencies and relevant policies, promoting media and information literacy for all, and championing the concept of information as a public good. Hence, the IFAP Bureau decided to extend the current IFAP Strategic Plan (2017-2021) to the end of 2022 so as to ensure ample consultation time to align the next IFAP Strategic Plan with UNESCO’s new Programme.

IFAP Bureau Members proposed a consultation process for development of the Programme’s new , that engages  youth and leverages expanded partnerships. To address major challenges emerging in information ecosystems, such as issues of personal data protection and digital identities, the use of ICTs for “transforming technology into socio-economic solutions” was particularly underlined by the representatives of IFAP Member States.

The IFAP Chair encouraged IFAP Member States to scale up their contributions to the Programme, both financial and in-kind, and requested the IFAP Secretariat to prioritize resource mobilization for the new Strategic Plan period.