Bureau of the International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) bevilgede på sit 55. årsmøde 2,3 millioner us dollar til 93 projekter, der søger at forbedre mulighederne for uafhængige medier i udviklingslande.
Danmark er med til at finansiere projektet, oplyser FNs Organisation for Uddannelse, Videnskab og Kultur (UNESCO) tirsdag.
PARIS, 29 March 2011: A total of more than 2,3 million us dollar was allocated to these projects, which will be implemented in 65 countries.
The majority of the projects approved (39) concern Africa, a UNESCO priority, while 22 will be implemented in Asia and the Pacific, 18 in Latin America and the Caribbean, 12 in the Arab region and 2 in Europe.
All of them will contribute to at least one of IPDC’s three main priorities, i.e. promoting freedom of expression and media pluralism; development of community media; capacity building of media professionals. They include one larger project, to be financed by Belgium with the endorsement of the IPDC Bureau, which involves a multi-stakeholder assessment of emerging media development needs in the The Middle East and North Africa region.
The financing of these projects was made possible thanks to the voluntary contributions of thirteen donors (received or pledged), namely India, Switzerland, Spain, the United States of America, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Belgium, the Russian Federation, Andorra, Sweden, France and Israel, which enabled IPDC to reach a level of funding unsurpassed in the last decade (almost 2,8 million).
The IPDC Bureau, comprised of eight Member States and presided by IPDC Chairman Raghu Menon, also decided to set aside a total of 100.000 us dollar to be used for future projects aimed assessing national media landscapes using UNESCO’s Media Development Indicators (MDIs).
Furthermore, the Bureau adopted a Decision increasing the funds allocated from the IPDC Special Account for evaluation activities in order to reinforce the evaluation of IPDC projects and ensure adequate follow-up.
