Presentation for the BBC World Service Trust/

Communications Initiative Conference

‘Democracy, Governance and Accountability:

The contribution of media and communication’

16th January 2008

ABOUT TVE

• Independent non-profit organization, first set up in 1984 by the UN Environment Programme, WWF and Central Television (now ITV).

• TVE’s mission - to raise awareness and trigger informed debate about environment, development, health and human rights issues worldwide through television and other electronic media

• We believe that television and electronic media are powerful tools in ensuring the free flow of information, communicating ideas and creating positive change

ABOUT TVE• We commission, produce or co-produce films on environment

and development issues;

• We work with international broadcast platforms and with 46 TVE Partners in 49 countries – in Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America & the Caribbbean - to ensure global and local reach for programmes;

• We produce three major series – Earth Report, Life and Hands On – which are broadcast first on BBC World, and then distributed via our Partners for broadcast and non-broadcast use in their countries

• We work with our Partners to ensure that films are versioned into local languages to reach even remote audiences through open air screenings, community hall viewings and via the internet

TVE AFRICAN PARTNER NETWORK (APN)

• 15 Partners across sub Saharan Africa (Angola, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe)

• Regional Coordinator, Africa, based in Nairobi

• In 2005 produced the ‘Africa Calling’ series addressing the G8 leaders meeting in Gleneagles, broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK and on TV stations across Africa

• In 2006, in partnership with Oxfam International, produced and broadcast ‘Trade Talking’ – in local languages - on the potential impact of the WTO agreement

• In 2007, in partnership with Save the Children UK, broadcast ‘Running on Empty’ - on MDG 1, hunger – and screened it at panel debates in 12 countries in Africa.

TVE APN WORKSHOP AT THE COMMONWEALTH

PEOPLE’S FORUM

• Showcased media projects on governance, HIV/AIDS, reproductive health and post-conflict reconstruction from six of the APN Partners

• Presentations from Indian television reporter Nupur Basu on media environment in South Asia; on Ugandan radio project run by World Vision, and on the work of Commonwealth Youth group

• Debate on final wording in draft communiqué for presentation by CPF rapporteurs to Commonwealth Foreign Ministers on 24 November

Excerpt from CHOGM Final Communiqué – 25.11.07

Civil Society

• 77. Heads of Government welcomed progress involving civil society in all aspects of the Commonwealth’s work. They noted that a number of Ministerial meetings now included provision for dialogue with civil society and called for this to be extended where possible.

• 78. They took note of the outcome of the Peoples Forum and agreed with civil society that political, economic and human transformation should recognise and respect the right to freedom of association and assembly, as well as freedom of expression and the media, and access to information, and requires the active participation of all social groups in making decisions that shape their destiny in accordance with international and domestic law. They noted civil society concerns that poverty, climate change, HIV and AIDS and rapid urbanisation as well as risk of failure to meet the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, pose serious threats to transformation.