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Top Offi cials of UNESCAP and ASEAN to attend the AMS


Top offi cials from UNESCAP and ASEAN will grace the inaugural session of the Asia Media Summit 2012 in Bangkok, Thailand and share their insights on the enormous power of media to shape public opinion, give voice to the poor, infl uence policy on social issues, and contribute to nation building.


Acknowledging media’s role and capacity to serve the ends of development, these offi cials are expected to identify concrete measures that will strengthen media’s role in development and their own development as a media organization, whether privately or government owned, or run as a community and public service broadcasting.


To deliver a special address will be Dr. Noeleen Heyzer, Under- Secretary-General


of


the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social


Dr. Noeleen Heyzer


Commission for Asia and the Pacifi c (UNESCAP).


Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, ASEAN Secretary- General will also be speaking at the AMS.


Meanwhile, the AIBD Secretariat staff in Kuala Lumpur is knee deep in preparations for a successful Asia Media Summit 2012. Their tasks cover planning sessions of the Summit, handling logistics, organizing workshops, and coordinating with members, speakers, partners and sponsors.


Dr. Surin Pitsuwan


About 600 broadcasters mostly decision makers and heads of news and programming, key representatives of academic and development institutions and other media professionals from Asia, Pacifi c, Africa, Europe, Middle East and North America


will participate in this annual conference. Almost all regional and international broadcasting unions and associations support the AMS.


Please visit the AMS website at www.aibd.org.my/ams for more information on programme details.


Afghan TV Showcases Women’s Rights


The Saba Media Organization (SMO) in Afghanistan has introduced new TV programs that highlight rights of women, cases of violence against women, forced marriages, and how affected women can take their issues to formal justice systems and courts.


Among these programs are Adalat wa Mahakem (TV Show Courts) and a series of new TV/radio open debates moderated by schoolgirls with participation of experts and authorities from the government, Ministry of Education (MoE) and Parliament.


Established in 1997, SMO has served as a cultural, social and not-for-profi t media organization in Afghanistan, tasked to handle Saba television’s two channels, Nawa radio’s two channels (covering 22 provinces with millions of audiences), Gandahara Production and Fajer Designing and Printing Press (www.sabacent.org).


Its mission is to assist in the sustainable development of Afghan society by raising awareness and promoting education of Afghan citizens that contributes towards a society with peace, solidarity and stability.


In 2011, SMO continued to work for community awareness and advocacy based on its core values that got signifi cant success.


Before the broadcast of Adalat wa Mahakem (TV Show Courts), Saba TV was looking for an instructive program to help educate its audiences (especially Afghan women) on their rights and fi nd solutions to problems affecting women. It had identifi ed a good number of cases of violence against women from across Afghanistan, recorded them as documentaries titled “Justice for All” and regularly broadcasted.


These documentaries as well as the TV show-court programs were highly appreciated by the audiences.


The TV/Radio open debates provided female students a platform to articulate their rights via the broadcast media. They aimed to encourage Afghan families to send their children especially the girls to schools, support the education sector and put pressure on government to give more attention to the problems of school girls. Having identifi ed some school girls in Kabul to moderate the debates, SABA TV faced an obstacle from their families who were not interested to let their daughters participate in a TV program. SMO tried to convey to these families that such programs were not against their cultural values.


Despite the diffi culties, these programs generated positive benefi ts for these girls, providing the needed educational materials such as computers, laboratories etc. They also persuaded the government to provide services and quality education for all especially females.


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Broadcaster


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