“MOWCAP is the forum where all the national MOW committees in UNESCO’s Asia Pacific region meet. There are 43 countries in the region which stretches from Mongolia to New Zealand, from Iran and the “stan” countries to the Pacific Island nations. Currently there are 18 official MOW committees in the region, and the meeting will also include observers from countries which don’t yet have national committees” said Ray Edmondson, Chair of MOWCAP. 

The aim of the meeting is to exchange information, to add new inscriptions to the Asia Pacific MOW Register, to monitor projects, to ensure the region is well represented in the global MOW program, and to help each other in the shared task of raising awareness of, and access to, the documentary heritage. The agenda also will look at practical issues that are relevant to the region, and the meeting will include a symposium on the preservation of documents in six countries.

“About the expectations for the future I always think that mutual encouragement comes at the top of the list – in many countries, libraries, archives and museums struggle with inadequate resources and can feel very isolated in their work. National MOW Committees bring together the main players in these professional fields” said Mr. Edmondson.  

The objectives of MOW program are mostly long term. “We want to change the way people think – to increase the value and priority which communities and governments place on their documentary heritage, to make the heritage more visible, and to make its protection and accessibility better resourced. I expect we will see the Register grow with further inscriptions, I expect we will all leave better informed on some crucial preservation issues, we will go away with ideas we have picked up from colleagues, we’ll be affirmed in our vocations and we will know we are not alone.  We are working to protect the documentary heritage for an indefinite future, so we have long time horizons” he said.

Please click the following link for details of the agenda meeting 

For more information about MOW programme

By Ruben Cabezas, UNESCO Bangkok

“It is important for staff members of Thai PBS to clearly understand the concept of public service broadcasting and they must be able to explain the differences between public and the state-owned and commercial broadcastings.  Public media is crucial to the democratic development of the country. Trainers of Thai PBS will have vital roles to play in this regard”, said Mr. Thepchai Yong, Managing Director of Thai PBS, in his opening remarks.

The topics covered in the workshop were Media and Information Literacy (MIL) for media professionals, universal concept of Public Service Broadcasting (PSB), media landscape and media development in Thailand, and TV audience measurement. Experts were invited to facilitate each session.

Dr. Nuntiya Doungphummes from Suan Dusit Rajabhat University and Dr. Palphol Rodloytuk shared their research findings on media landscape and media development in Thailand respectively. Both of them highlighted the issue of press freedom and control, access to official information, the roles and limitation of media in presenting information, and the setting up of the Thai PBS as the first public service broadcasting in the country to serve the interest of the public. Additionally, they also underlined the coordination work between Thai PBS and the Audience Council as well as the function of the public media in promoting ‘Critical Thinking’ to the people.

Public Service Broadcasting (PSB) is broadcasting made, financed and controlled by the public, for the public. Dr Susanne Ornager, Advisor for Communication and Information in Asia, UNESCO Bangkok, stressed that PSB has to be independent, free from political or commercial influence, promote free flow of information, public participation and democratic development.

“Having quality programmes which empower the citizens and democratic society will ensure the sustainability of the PSB”, emphasized Dr Ornager.

Thai PBS is at the media forefront to promote Media and Information Literacy (MIL) in Thailand. One of the MIL experts, Dr. Uajit Virojtrairatt, explained how the media professionals can help increase the understanding of the civic society    to make sense of the information they get from the media.

The group discussion was led by Mr. Somchai Suwannaban, Member of Thai PBS Board of Governors, and Mr. Anothai Udomsilp, Director of Academic Institute of Public Media. The participants proposed 3 priority topics to be included in the future training curriculum. These are the Universal Concepts of Public Service Broadcasting, the Conceptualization of Public Service Broadcasting in the Thai Society, and the Work and Achievements of Thai PBS.

The discussions at the end of the workshop shoved that the participants had gained more knowledge and understanding about the overall picture of media landscape and development, particularly the important issues pertaining to the linkage of media and society.  The suggested list of topics will be included in more details in the next two trainings which will be held in December 2011. 

The training’s primary objectives are to adapt the MIL Curriculum for Teachers’ Training to suit a Thai context, and to promote awareness about the importance of MIL in Thai society. The training emphasizes on comprehension aspect, critical thinking, creativity, cross-cultural awareness and citizenship. Even though the issues of Information Literacy (IL) and Media Literacy (ML) have been addressed for more than a decade within Thailand, this workshop is the first where UNESCO Bangkok joins hands with Kasetsart University, Thai Health Promotion Foundation, Child Media Program, Thai National Commission for UNESCO/Ministry of Education, Thai Public Broadcasting Service, Ministry of ICT and the Research Center of Communication and Development Knowledge Management and organize training for teachers and practitioners who are interested in and work on the issue.

During the training, Thai MIL experts will share experiences gained from the First International Forum on Media and Information Literacy held in Morocco earlier this year and organized by UNESCO and partners. In addition, the Thai MIL Working Group will take this opportunity to present the MIL Thailand Roadmap and launch the MIL web portal www.milthailand.org

Small grants are available for participants who would like to implement MIL projects at their school or community.

For more information, please contact Dararat Weerapong, CI Porgramme Assistant, Tel: 02-391 0577 ext 115, Email: d.weerapong@unesco.org

Download a provisional agenda

The Programme not only provides support for media projects but also seeks an accord to secure a healthy environment for the growth of free and pluralistic media in developing countries. It’s now calling for media project proposals in 4 priorities:

-Promotion of freedom of expression and media pluralism

-Development of community media

-Human resource development

-Promotion of international partnership

Special attention will be given to:

- Community radio projects, with a particular focus on those managed by women’s groups

-Safety of Journalists projects, including safety training components and/or reinforcing collaboration with international and regional networks i.e. IFEX, IFJ, INSI, etc;

-Institutional capacity-building projects

-Gender and media projects by applying IFJ’s gender and media guidelines supported by UNESCO

portal.unesco.org/ci/en/files/28397/12435929903gender_booklet_en.pdf/gender_booklet_en.pdf ).

Submit to: Susanne Ornager, Adviser for CI in Asia, Email: s.ornager@unesco.org with copying to Dararat Weerapong, CI Programme Assistant, Email: d.weerapong@unesco.org

Deadline of submission: 31 July 2011

Visit

IPDC websites

Downloads:

Guidelines for IPDC project preparation

IPDC project form

Awarded on a biennial basis, it consists of a sum of US$ 20,000 and a diploma. The 2012 Prize will be awarded during the 28th session of the Intergovernmental Council of IPDC, which will take place at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris from 21 to 23 March 2012.

Deadline for submission is 30 September 2011.

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The WPFD celebration will start with a speech by Mr. Gwang-Jo Kim, Director of UNESCO Bangkok and opening remark about New Frontiers, New Barriers in Public Service Broadcasting by Mr. Thepchai Yong, Managing Director of Thai PBS. This will be followed by two panel discussions. The first is about media development in the Mekong Region: Thailand, Laos and Cambodia with Media landscape presentations by the countries and commentators from Thailand, Cambodia and SEAPA. The second is a round table discussion about  social medias between organizations in Thailand and Cambodia and under the theme new frontiers, new barriers. The morning sessions finish by launching a photo exhibition about “Photojournalism: Freedom of the Press in Documenting History”.

In the afternoon TJA will raise awareness among civil society about WPFD by having events at Siam Paragon supported by UNESCO. There will be flash mobs organised by university students and activities on stage where TV presenters and anchors will play games with the audience. Representatives from newspapers, TV and radio stations and online media will meet to emphasise the importance of WPFD and UNESCO representatives and other celebrities will commend on the World Press Freedom Day.

For further information please contact Dararat Weerapong, Communication and Information Programme Assistant, Email: d.weerapong@unesco.org Tel: 02-3910577 ext 115

Provisional agenda

Related Link:

Joint Message by UN Secretary-General, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and UNESCO Director-General on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day; 3 May 2011

Empowerment of people through information and media literacy is an important prerequisite for fostering equitable access to information and knowledge, and building inclusive knowledge societies.
                                                                                             - UNESCO

On 27-28 January 2011, UNESCO joined hands with 15 organisations include Child Media Programme, Thai Health Promotion Foundation and Media Monitors among others, to organize the “Thai Media Literacy Conference” in Bangkok. This aimed to produce policy recommendations on media literacy in Thailand which will then be proposed to government, business and social sector.

In addition, this will be a platform to create the network and discuss how to work on media literacy in all social level, as well as to disseminate media literacy concept and information to wider audiences.

The participants discussed the importance of media literacy and the current issues were progressed during the two-day seminar. In the afternoon session on 27th of January, the panel which consists of professors and experts in the field exchanged their experience and expertise on the theme of media literacy concepts and strategies.

Chido Onumah, Coordinator for Youth and Communication Initiative of African Center for Media Literacy, stressed creating another form of media through active participation in the era of new technology rather than simply receiving the contents of media. He encouraged the young generation to participate and involve in creating their own media and also urged to build the effective partnerships between the various stake holders.

The discussion emphasized implementing media literacy into curriculums at all levels. There were, although, concerns that teachers were already overloaded with the current tasks, so to implement a subject on media literacy might not be ideal.

Susanne Ornager, UNESCO Advisor for Communication and Information (CI) in Asia, highlighted the right approach to media literacy and that “media literacy is not an add-on to the already crowded curriculum but should be conceived as a means of facilitating the integration of critical thinking skills.” 

She also introduced UNESCO’s new Media and Information Literacy Curriculum for Teachers to the participants. This curriculum will be developed and adapted to fit with Thai context. This will then be a teaching tool for Thai teachers. The curriculum drew lots of attention from the audiences. 

Apart from implementing media literacy into curriculums, it’s also important to push it at a policy level. 

Wilasinee Adulyanont, Social Marketing Manager of Thai Health Promotion Foundation, shared that “as a member of the Country Reform Assembly, I will certainly make the media literacy to be one of our agendas. We will also propose the law. Right now we have a draft bill on Media Creation Fund which will go to the parliament within the next few months. In this bill there is one issue saying about supporting the work of media literacy. This is our attempt to push this law.”

“To promote media literacy, we need to have political will, social movement and insert this into the curriculums at all educational level,” added Khempon Wiroonrapun, Child Media Programme.

Small group discussions focusing on the role of educational institutions in integrating media literacy into curriculums, media organisations and media literacy, mechanism to promote media literacy among public sector and new media literacy.

The event concluded with an official launched of the Media Literacy Network of Thailand (MLNT).  Its missions are to:

UNESCO defines media literacy as the ability to critically analyze and evaluate the media and it enables people to interpret and make informed  judgments as users of information and the media. The mission of UNESCO in this theme is fostering media literate societies by encouraging the development of national media literacy policies. Through this seminar, UNESCO welcomes cooperation with relevant entities to raise awareness of media literacy among ministries and the public, as well as to promote media literacy curriculums in formal and non-formal education systems countrywide.

Media literacy plays a role to place a society on the right track. It is essential to strengthen media literacy which is important for human well-being and leads to a knowledge-based society.

The Communication and Information Unit at UNESCO Bangkok regards media literacy as one of the main themes of this year and has collaborated with an expert group in Thailand to develop Media and Information Literacy Curriculum for Thai Teachers. The workshop on this will be held later this year in Bangkok.

By SeongHoon Yoo, UNESCO Bangkok

Related Link:
Media and Information Literacy

The Conference is being organized under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, with the kind support of the Polish National Commission for UNESCO, the Head Office of State Archives and the Polish Committee of the Memory of the World Programme.

This Conference will explore the theme “Culture – Memory – Identities” in the presence of the leading experts on different aspects of the preservation of documentary heritage from around the world, as well as other professionals active in the area of history and culture.

The Memory of the World Programme, established in 1992, is UNESCO’s main programme for promotion of all humanity’s documentary heritage, its accessibility and preservation for future generations and an important forum for the debate concerning its social and cultural role and the role of collective memory - or memories - in the life of various societies and international community.

In this 4th Conference participants will discuss in detail the status and further development of the Memory of the World Programme, as well as reflect on the contemporary issues that the Programme must address in the fields of preservation, promotion and accessibility. Primary consideration will be given to the Programme’s role in preserving our collective memory and identity, while ensuring their transmission to future generations.

The provisional programme of the conference is attached. UNESCO encourages you to extend this announcement to all heritage professionals and other interested professionals and members of national institutions who can register online on the Conference’s website: http://www.4conferencemow.pl/index.php/en/register.

For further information on the terms and conditions of participation, click here.

Ms. Susanne Ornager, UNESCO Advisor for Communication and Information in Asia, explained that “A considerable proportion of the world’s documentary heritage disappears through natural causes, such as acidified paper that crumbles to dust, or leather, parchment, film, or magnetic tape that is ruined by light, heat, humidity, or dust. […] In addition to insidious causes of decay, accidents regularly afflict libraries and archives”. The reasons given can prevent people from benefit of documents that attest their past and milestones which are the basis of their culture.

The Memory of the World (MOW) Programme aims to preserve world’s documentary heritage, raise awareness about the programme and increases the possibility for everyone to have access to the registered heritage.

In order to perform these tasks and protect the items registered in its programme, MOW established a Register through which countries can submit their nominations to be registered in the Programme. The nominations for the Register may be submitted by any person or organization, including governments and NGOs.

The selection criteria includes, for instance: representing a contribution to an important period; containing a subject/theme of great significance; having form and style of a particular value, and representing a social value in human history and development.

Currently the heritage protected by MOW consists of 193 items worldwide of which 42 are in the Asia and Pacific region. Several countries globally are still trying to become part of the programme.

The cooperation with UNESCO has been initiated and established to better preserve their treasures and put them under the protective umbrella of the MOW Programme.

For example, in 2010 Thailand has submitted a request to inscribe The Epigraphic Archives of Wat Pho (Temple of the Bodhi Tree) in the MOW Register. The Epigraphic Archives of Wat Pho in Bangkok is a unique collection of 1,431 inscriptions in Thai language and scripts on limestone, marble and slate plates made in 1831-1841 on both religious and secular subjects, representing a wide range of Thai knowledge of Asian and local roots of the time in the context of over five centuries of global exchanges in trade, politics and culture.

At the same time, Mongolia nominated the Lu.“Altan Tobchi” (The Golden History) to be listed. This document was written with a bamboo pen on muutuu paper[1] in black ink in Mongolian vertical script. This manuscript presents the history of Mongolia and neighbouring countries from Chinggis Khan to Ligden Khan (from 13^th to 17^th centuries).

It may be said that this Lu.“Altan Tobchi” is the most ancient surviving example of the primary Mongolian source editions of the “Secret History” and 17th century reproduction of this history. The Lu.“Altan Tobchi” represents and bears an exceptional testimony to a specific nomadic tradition of Mongols that still exists and it wholly represents particular historical and social developments that affected considerable part of the world history during the 13^th and 14^th centuries.

The Mongolian and the Thai nominations are part of the current nominations that are currently under review by the International Advisory Committee (IAC). The Committee will study every nomination and choose only the ones that meet all the selection criteria of MOW requirements.

When this process is finished, the new heritages will become part of the MOW’s Documentary Heritage and the countries will ensure the preservation and safeguarding of the items and the accessibility for everyone.

On the occasion of the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage, Ms. Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, stated that to build a better tomorrow “we must understand the past to shape a common future founded on dialogue and understanding”.

By Chiara Longobardi, UNESCO Bangkok

For further information:

Memory of the World Programme

A complete list of selection criteria

List of Current Nominations

[1] The Muutuu paper is a type of papyrus.

APIN is a UNESCO-recognized network of Asia-Pacific countries committed to promote ICT literacy and application, information and knowledge networking, sharing of information resources, and the use of international standards and best practices in communication, information, organized and informatics. The network organized in 2002 now has 19 member countries whose representatives meet every two years on different themes.

Based upon the Information for All Program (IFAP) strategy, participants will discuss and agree on the priorities for the new APIN Constitution as well as developing an action plan for establishing IFAP Committees in the APIN member countries. Besides, the meeting will also explore the intervention to promote information and media literacy in the region, measurement for access to information and awareness raising tools for APIN. This meeting is piggybacked with the ICT Competencies workshop. Approved new text of APIN Constitution will be made available on UNESCO Bangkok website.

For more information, please contact Susanne Ornager, Advisor for Communication and Information in Asia, UNESCO Bangkok, email: s.ornager@unesco.org

Meeting Agenda

UNESCO recognizes and takes into consideration existing challenges in terms of the conceptualization and definition of MIL.

During 4-6 November 2010 at Plaza Athenee Hotel in Bangkok, UNESCO invites professionals and experts from the field of information literacy, media literacy, ICT literacy, psychometric, lifelong learning, teacher education, and curriculum development to discuss the media and information literacy indicators.

The group shares an initial overall understanding of the concepts of Media, ICT and Information Literacy. After that, three groups of expert namely media literacy, information literacy and ICT literacy meet separately to identify a self-contained set of core skills. Results of group discuss help to work-out a consensus on an integrated constellation of skills along with a proper mapping of overlapping areas. Then the triennial agenda, ‘Methodology Development and Testing,’ will be proposed by an experienced survey practitioner through examination and adoption by this meeting.

The expected results of this initiative include:

• Identification and validation of core Information Literacy (IL) skills and job-specific Media and Information Literacy (MIL) skills
• Adoption of a workable agenda for the process developing cost-effective methodological tools leading to the validation of the UNESCO MIL indicators between 2011 and 2013

The meeting is held in coordination between the Communication and Information (CI) Unit and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) Unit in UNESCO Bangkok.

For further information, please contact:

• Ø  Dr Simon Ellis, UNESCO Institute for Statistics Asia Pacific Regional Advisor and Head of AIMS Unit.
  Email: s.ellis@unesco.org Tel: (+66) 2 391 0577 ext. 201
  
  
• Ø  Dr Susanne Ornager, UNESCO Advisor for Communication and Information in Asia.
  Email: s.ornager@unesco.org Tel: (+66) 2 391 0577 ext. 160

Further Information

Please see the PDFs below for the meeting agenda and the list of participants.

The Arabic word ‘Majaliss’ means ‘a place of sitting’ used to describe various types of formal legislative assemblies in Islamic countries; it is also a common term used for a meeting, dialogue or exchange. UNESCO’s Digital Library Majaliss offers a modern platform for sharing digitised books of classical Arabic literature among a large and diverse public.