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UNESCO’s IPDC allocates $1m to media development projects
The eight UNESCO Member States who make up the IPDC Bureau chose the beneficiaries from amongst almost 70 proposals by grassroots groups that had been submitted through UNESCO field offices.
H.E Ambassador Anna Brandt, IPDC Chair, expressed special appreciation for additional funding announced by Iceland, and for the decision by Uruguay and Poland to join the IPDC as contributors. Gratitude was expressed to the continuing confirmed donors, including Finland, France, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.
The projects approved for funding include many initiatives to support safety of journalists, gender equality in media, countering disinformation and assessments using IPDC’s Internet Universality Indicators. The Bureau also allocated funds to the IPDC secretariat to continue work on strengthening media viability and journalism education.
“Small projects can catalyze big ideas and worldwide action,” said the IPDC Chair, pointing to an IPDC grant in 2014 for a project “that today has grown to see more than 23 000 judicial operators being trained in freedom of expression”.
She noted that, as part of the , more funds have been allocated to address this crucial issue.
Linked to this will be consultations on a model legal protocol for safety of journalists that could be presented to the IPDC Council in November. Bureau Vice President, Pablo Medina Jiminez, provided background that the initiative was discussed at the UNESCO .
Amongst the Bureau’s decisions was a special allocation to support professional media coverage in conflict and post-conflict situations, including through the updating, translation and adaptation of UNESCO’s handbook on , and to support displaced journalists.
UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information, Tawfik Jelassi, congratulated the IPDC Bureau for its work, including its approval of a Financial forecast and Timeline and engagement with a draft strategic framework for the Programme.
The will be open for written comments until September 9, and a new version discussed at an informal IPDC meeting on 3 October, after which a further version will be submitted to the IPDC Council in November.
“The challenges ahead, not least with media viability and media’s role in conflict, are huge. But I am convinced that with your support IPDC will do its part in protecting free, credible, and independent information, in protecting Information as a public good”, stated Jelassi.
Among the 37 approved IPDC project, 35% will be implemented in Africa, in line with UNESCO’s Global Priority Africa, 27% in the Asia-Pacific region, 24% in Latin America and the Caribbean, 11% in the Arab States region and 3% in Europe. A third of the projects concern Least Developed Countries and/or Small Island Developing States. The Bureau expressed its satisfaction with the increased emphasis on gender, with 12 projects of the projects approved (32%) specifically targeting gender issues.
In order to improve the quality of the proposals, The Bureau suggested that capacity development be implemented on the ground to ensure that those who would benefit the most from the Programme have a better chance for their proposals to be successful.
The Bureau welcomed the Secretariat’s effort to increase IPDC’s visibility and online reach thanks to the complete redesigning of the IPDC’s website and the creation of a new visual identity, including videos and materials explaining the IPDC’s work.
The Bureau approved the provisional dates proposed for the 67th Bureau meeting and confirmed that it will be taking place on 14-15 June 2023.
Please click to view all the decisions approved by the IPDC Bureau at its 66th meeting.
