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UNESCO’s International Council for the Development of Communication has elected a new Chair for the next two years, Ms Anna Brandt, (Sweden). Ms Brandt brings more than 30 years of international development experience representing Sweden in diplomatic missions in Kenya, Zambia and Ireland, and has held leadership positions in organisations such as the World Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sweden. Ms Brandt has also represented Sweden at UN agencies such as the United Nations Environment Programme and is currently the Ambassador and head of Permanent Delegation of Sweden to the OECD and UNESCO, Paris.

Ms Anna Brandt, Sweden

Ms Frida Gustafsson, Attaché to the Permanent Delegation of Sweden to the OECD and UNESCO, thanked the IPDC council for giving Sweden their confidence in the chairmanship of the IPDC.

The 31st Council of the IPDC also elected Zambia as IPDC Rapporteur and El Salvador, Libya and Lithuania for the three IPDC Bureau Vice-Chair positions. The Netherlands, Nigeria and Thailand were elected as regular members of the IPDC Bureau.

The changes were made at the 31st IPDC Council session on 21 November at UNESCO HQ (Paris, France). The Member States of the Council thanked the outgoing Chair, Ms Albana Shala (Netherlands), who led the IPDC for the last four years, for her commitment to the Programme and her tireless fundraising efforts to ensure IPDC programmes could be delivered in developing countries in a time of great change in the communications sector, due in part to the impact of social media and the Internet on access to information.

The IPDC was set up in 1980 as the only intergovernmental programme in the UN system mandated to mobilize international support in order to contribute to sustainable development, democracy and good governance by strengthening the capacities of free and independent media. Since its creation, IPDC has channeled about US$ 105 million to over 1,700 media development projects in some 140 countries.

The IPDC’s Council is composed of 39 Member States elected by UNESCO’s General Conference. It meets once every two years to reflect on the latest trends in the media development field and give direction to the Programme. The Bureau of eight Member States meets once a year and allocates support to grassroots media projects around the world.

To find out more about the IPDC, .