Welcome Note

Under the Auspices of H.E. the President of the Hellenic Republic Dr. Karolos Papoulias, more than 500 media experts from over 100 countries will be invited to attend the Athens Conference

Welcome to Athens!

Dear colleagues and friends,


In today's linked-up world where information races from one part of the globe to the other and where the process of globalisation affects all of us, a growing demand is emerging: "Quality information for All".

This is not only a demand from people who use and consume media. It is not only a demand from people who work in the media. Quality information is a necessity for all societies, whether rich or poor, whether in Europe or in Africa, in Asia or in North America, in Australia or in Latin America.

‘Quality information for All" is essential to the quality of democracy; it is a crucial factor for the respect of the human rights.

There is increasing recognition of independent media's positive impact on sustainable development, especially when media are able to provide information to the public on social issues and highlight policy problems that demand the government's attention.

Media play a key role in creating and strengthening democracy and human development. Never has the need for independent media support been so great. The work of media assistance organizations at the local, regional, and international level to strengthen media around the world is vital in addressing the challenges that threaten free media today.

Quality information for All is the overarching theme of the conference, which will discuss a range of key issue and aims to adopt clear and practical strategies for the media development community.

The conference will allow media NGOs from around the world to show-case their work. It will offer also the opportunity to meet with a wide range of organisations that fund media development work.

High-level media experts, journalists, editors, intellectuals, politicians will participate at the Athens World conference of Global Forum for Media Development on 7th to 10th December 2008.

Under the Auspices of H.E. the President of the Hellenic Repuplic Dr. Karolos Papoulias, more than 500 media experts from over 100 countries will be invited to attend the Athens Conference.

The Conference is part of the one year-long United Nations celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that was launched on the 10th of December 2007, and will close on the final day of the Athens conference, on December the 10th 2008.

The Global Forum for Media Development is a network of some 500 media assistance organisations from 100 countries worldwide, set up to highlight the importance of free, independent and viable media to human and economic development. It is the mission of the GFMD to make media development an integral part of overall development strategies, just like education or health. Too often, media assistance is relegated to communicating development goals and the GFMD aims to make media assistance a sector in its own right. The GFMD's basic values are free expression, media freedom and independent journalism as defined by internationally accepted documents such as the UNESCO Windhoek Declaration. The GFMD believes that free, independent, viable and inclusive media are prerequisites for creating and strengthening democratic society and human development.

Elders Public Service Announcement (PSA)

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