Media support organisations to strengthen partnerships in 2011
Are we creating tangible results? 40 media support organisations from around the world met this week to agree on joint action plans to strengthen media in countries across four continents in 2011
The Paris Partnership meeting from 21 – 23 November was the third in a line of meetings initiated by International Media Support (IMS) to improve cooperation and coordination amongst international and national media support organisations and donors in countries where media cannot operate freely.
– As international media partners we have not yet harmonised our efforts which in part continue to be fragmented and in some instances, destructively competitive, said Jesper Højberg, Executive Director of International Media Support in his opening remarks.
– We need to ask ourselves whether we are creating tangible results, sharing knowledge and goals. There is a need for “smarter” partnerships.
Comparing solutions across continents
Discussions over the two-day meeting highlighted the benefits and drawbacks of the media support partnerships initiated in 2010 in 14 countries which include: Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Belarus, DRC, Haiti, Mexico, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Uganda, Venezuela, Yemen and Zimbabwe.
Views on the nature of the partnerships, division of roles within the partnerships, funding models, local ownership (or lack thereof) and actual impact on media were debated and solutions suggested in various working groups with representatives from 40 organisations across the world. Representatives from CIS, for example, were surprised to find that the situation of media in countries such as Venezuela is similar to their own.
– I do think we have come far, said Jesper Højberg, Director of IMS at the Paris meeting this week.
– This is a long-term process and gathering all relevant actors in the same room gives us the opportunity to compare the activities in different continents and discover new solutions.
Stringent funding models hamper long-term planning
A challenge identified within the three types of existing media support partnerships defined by their advocacy, media development and emergency-based activities, are the short time frames of funding tied to the UN and other international donors’ emergency response. These often hamper plans for longer term media development.
This was especially apparent in the case of emergencies such as Haiti, where there is a clear disparity between the tightly set timeframes of UN funding and the long-term agendas of media development organisations. The focus of the funding available is often on immediate relief efforts and recovery. Notwithstanding the importance of this kind of aid, local media organisations such as the Haitian Association of Journalists in Haiti, represented at the partnership meeting, expressed the need for longer term investments in media such as in the education and training of journalists.
Local ownership needed
Another recurring point raised by the media support organisations during the meeting was the failing to build up locally-owned media initiatives in the countries in where media is being supported. If local media organisations are not given the capacity to drive media support initiatives, they will ultimately not take root in the local media culture. Tied into this was also the need for international and local organisations to understand each other’s principles and expectations for cooperation better.
With more media support partnerships in the pipeline, future meetings between the media support organisations will take place in the regions where the partnerships are actively working. Watch the IMS website for updates on the media support Partnership process.
Background
The first Partnership meeting in Copenhagen in September 2009 was an opportunity for media support organisations to “compare notes” on their individual and joint media support activities around the world. In January 2010, the organisations met again in a practical exercise of selecting and devising action plans for media support partnerships in 2010 in 14 countries across four continents. These 14 country partnerships were the main item of analysis and evaluation at UNESCO in Paris from 21 – 23 November 2010.
In the words of host UNESCO director Mogens Schmidt; “the international media support community has developed in maturity since the eighties.” Cooperation between the media support organisations existed, but partnership gatherings such as the one in Paris with the presence of local and international media and media support organisations, UN and freedom of expression organisations, did not take place back then.
