International Partnerships Report: Paris, 22-23 Nov. 2010

The "Partnerships in Progress Report" tracks the progress of international media support Partnerships from the first international meeting in Copenhagen in September 2009 to the latest Partnerships meeting in Paris in November 2010

The two-day Partnerships meeting in Paris from 22 - 23 November 2010 hosted by UNESCO was the third in a series of meetings to improve cooperation and coordination amongst international and national media support organisations and donors in countries where media cannot operate freely. At the meeting a series of countries were identified for joint media support action in 2011 and action plans were developed.

For an electronic version or hard copy of the report, please contact Helle Wahlberg on email: hwa[snabela]i-m-s.dk..

Read the previous reports here: International Partnerships Report, Copenhagen 2009 and International Partnerships Report, NY January 2010. 

Why Partnerships?

The last decade has seen a narrowing of the democratic space in the world. Geopolitical changes and the emergence of new electronic communication tools have contributed to changing the situation and needs of media around the world. Reporters without Borders reported a trend towards more, not less authoritarian regimes in their 2010 Press Freedom Index, boding darker times ahead for press freedom.

Since 2003, International Partnerships have been based on concrete interventions in countries with serious human rights and press freedom breaches such as Liberia, Sri Lanka, Mexico and Belarus. Although these joint missions have had an impact, they have been ad hoc with no agreed process for sharing best practices and lessons learnt amongst the participating organisations.

The heterogeneity of intentions by donors and implementing organisations in the field of media has resulted in a variety of priorities and outputs, some without any sustainable or long-term perspective in place and without any anchor in the local medias' agenda for development. 

These factors have contributed to the joint recognition amongst media support organisations that there is a need for a more focused and strategic partnership approach to effectively address the challenges facing media and press freedom in the world today.

Media support a part of international aid

Media support is growing as a crucial part of the international aid sector and the support of Freedom of Expression is a key component of democracy building. Goal 8 of the Millennium Development Goals highlights the need for global Partnerships, "smarter" Partnerships. Therefore, the objective of increasing collaboration of media support organisations across the world is to move towards greater harmonisation of what is often fragmented and competitive action.

Partnerships are not always a solution to the challenges faced by media, but are often a means to ensure increased impact for the benefit of media.

Contact hwa[snabela]i-m-s.dk for more information.