[FoME] Global Forum for Media Development in Athens, December 7-10

[Christoph Dietz]

Liebe Mitglieder der FoME-Liste,

anbei die Vorankündigung zum zweiten "Global Forum for Media
Development" (GFMD). GFMD ist ein internationaler Zusammenschluss von
Organisationen, die in der Medien-Entwicklungszusammenarbeit (MEZ) tätig
sind. Das erste GFMD fand im Oktober 2005 in Amman (Jordanien) statt,
die ausführliche Dokumentation "Media Matters" unter
http://70.87.64.34/~intint/gfmd_info/pdf/MEDIAMATTERS.pdf vermittelt
einen guten Überblick über den aktuellen Diskussionsstand.

Mit diesem Namen leicht zu verwechseln

ist das erste "Global Media Forum", das die Deutsche Welle vom 2. bis
4. Juni in Bonn zum Thema "Media in Peacebuilding and Conflict
Prevention" veranstaltet. Die Ankündigung dazu lief bereits über diese
Liste, aktuelle Infos unter http://dw-gmf.de/

Mit freundlichen Grüßen

Christoph Dietz
CAMECO

>>> Hervé Verloes <assistant at mediagfmd.org> 04.04.2008 09:29 >>>

Dear Colleagues and friends,
 
The next Global Forum for Media Development will take place in Athens
on December 7-10. You will receive a more detailed invitation and
information about the conference in the coming months, but we would like
to ask you to already block the dates for this event.
 
Some 500 media development organisations from around the world are
expected to attend. 

During the conference, the GFMD will organize a donors meeting
involving all relevant institutions active in the field to present and
discuss the conclusions of the forum in the six thematic areas.
 
In addition to the topical and regional sessions, GFMD will also
convene a members session to agree on GFMD statutes, confirm regional
representatives to the Steering Committee who were nominated at each
regional forum conducted earlier, and select international
representatives. The proposed Steering Committee would consist of four
international members and two members each from Africa, Asia, Eurasia,
Latin America/ Caribbean, and Middle East/North Africa. The statutes
will establish the working rules and governance structure. The statutes
will emphasize GFMD¹s network structure.

The overall aim of the conference is to ensure that media development
becomes an integral part of development strategies and programmes.

During 2008 regional forums are being organised, which will determine
the content of the conference. For now, some proposed conference topics
are:
 
=> Advocacy strategies: How can the media development community make
the case for placing media freedom at the heart of the development
agenda? What are the most effective approaches to highlight the impact
of independent media on democracy and development goals?

=> Enabling media environments: What types of legal structures are
necessary to ensure media can play a role in democratic development? In
reference to closed media systems, what types of media development
programs can help open up restrictive media systems? Building on
existing indices and qualitative studies, participants will develop
common strategies.

=> Building respect for media freedom through dialogue with civil
society: How can media be inclusive and accessible to marginalized
groups? How do media and civil society interact?  What is necessary to
help civil society understand and support media freedom?

=> New technologies, opportunities, and markets: Participants will
analyze initiatives that use new technologies to provide  better
information services to the poor. Discussions will also examine business
models that use new technologies, especially in poor countries. How can
investors be involved? What are the strategies for building new media?

=> Media and governance - Measuring success: This session will focus on
developing indicators for measuring the impact of media development
programs on democratic governance over time in a given country.
Discussion will also explore possible ways to collaborate on governance
issues with other transnational networks, such as the Global Network for
Local Governance, and international institutions such as the World Bank
and Transparency International.

=> Monitoring and evaluation: Building on existing studies and indices,
this session will examine the types of instruments and resources
necessary to effectively measure media development programming, such as
the creation of a toolbox of indicators that can be used by local media
development organizations.

We are sending this around through different mailing list and we
apologise if you are getting this announcement more than once.

We look forward to seeing you in Athens.

Best regards

David Hoffman 
Chairman
     
Bettina Peters
Director