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IPDC supports 49 new media development projects
After examining 103 project proposals, the Bureau of the International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) approved 49 new media development projects, amounting to US$1,393,237.
The eight Member States of the IPDC Bureau met during the 62nd session of the IPDC Bureau Meeting, held in Accra, Ghana on 30 April – 1 May 2018. Chaired by Ambassador Lionel Veer of The Netherlands, the IPDC Bureau is currently made up of representatives of Denmark, Ecuador, Mongolia, Niger, Oman, Poland and Zambia, as elected by the 39 Member State IPDC Council in November 2016.
The approved projects cover 35 countries and include six regional ventures. Africa received the highest support, with 13 projects approved. This was followed by Asia and Pacific (10 projects), Latin America and the Caribbean (seven projects), and Middle East and North Africa (five projects).
The successful project proposals cover areas such as building resilience among Caribbean journalists in the age of climate change, enhancing investigative journalism to ensure public access to information in Bhutan and addressing the misinformation (or ‘fake news’) in Kenya.
Most of the projects approved are transformative, providing local media stakeholders with new skills that impact not only on their professional capacities but also on the capacity of the communities they serve to access information and make informed decisions. With very diverse national and regional media contexts, each approved project makes a clear contribution to at least one of the IPDC priorities. This year, 80% of the approved projects fall under the priorities of promoting safety of journalists, supporting media pluralism and independence, and building capacity of media professionals and media managers, including improving journalism education.
In addition to the 41 projects submitted by local organizations, the Bureau also approved four international ventures that will be funded by contributions from The Netherlands, Finland and Canada, as well as four special allocations to support the Programme’s four Special Initiatives: 1) The Safety of Journalists and Issue of Impunity; 2) Media and Internet-related Indicators; 3) The Global Initiative for Excellence in Journalism Education; and 4) Knowledge-Driven Media Development: Follow-up to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
is the only multilateral forum in the UN system designed to mobilize the international community to discuss and promote media development in developing countries. Since its creation in 1980, has successfully mobilized over US$110 million to strengthen the capacity of media in 140 countries.
See the list of projects approved by the Bureau here:
