Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
IN FOCUS: UNESCO Amman cele-brates inaugural International Day for the Universal Access to Information
Newsletter October 2016
In celebration of the first official International Day for the Universal Access to Information (IDUAI) on 28 September, a short film, “Access to Infor-mation in Jordan: A Right for Everyone,” was released with the goal of raising awareness around access to information in Jordan and the Access to Information Law. The film was released on YouTube and shared widely on social media. Several universities are also organizing screenings of the film and discussions on the topic, including Yarmouk University on 4 October, Jordan Media Institute on 5 October and Petra University in November. The film will also be screened at the European Union Film Festival on 7 October in Rainbow theatre.
See the UNESCO DG’s statement on the occasion of the IDUAI here.
UNESCO DG condemns murder of writer Nahed Hattar in AmmanOn 25 September, Jordanian writer and commentator Nahed Hattar was shot and killed outside a court where he was to face charges for sharing on social media a controversial cartoon critical of religious extremists. “This crime con-stitutes a grave attack on freedom of expression and affects Jordanian society as a whole,” Ms Irina Bokova stated.
Retreats for new community radio initiatives In August, UNESCO community radio consultants Sawsan Zaideh, Ayman Bardawil and Mohammed Rayyan facilitated retreats for each of the seven participating radio stations in the project component re-lated to assisting new community radio stations outside of Amman.
Watch the project video from the Sawt il Ghowr radio retreat.
What else happened?
www.stmjo.com Volume II | Issue III | 2016
This project is funded by the European Union
Media freedom is everyone ’s freedom Media independence is everyone ’s independence Professional journalism makes a difference
Join us stmjo
Officials debate proposed amendments to several medial lawsFrom 11-13 July, UNESCO facilitated three sessions at the Media Commission (MC) to discuss details of proposed amendments to several pieces of media legislation. The sessions followed the successful workshops in May of this year, where the reviews of the Audio-Visual Law (AVL), the Press and Publications Law (PPL) and Access to Informa-tion Law (ATI) were presented. Since then, the MC asked UNESCO to provide further expertise and to suggest spe-cific changes to the by-laws to the AVL, as well as amend-ments to the AVL and PPL.
What else happened?
Consultations on broadcast licensing and digital switchover In late July 2016, UNESCO facilitated two sessions at the Media Commission to further debate changes to the broadcast licens-ing regime, and to discuss the digital switchover. Catherine Sm-adja, UNESCO consultant and expert on broadcast licensing sys-tems, led the discussions, while participants included members of the MC, the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC), Jordan Radio and Television Cooperation (JRTV) and Jordan Me-dia City. The discussions follow a thorough review of the Jordani-an legal framework for broadcasting conducted by Ms Smadja.
Two new project partners joinIn September, agreements with two new project partners were finalized for the last outstanding project compo-nents on self-regulation and access to information training for government officials. Fojo Media Institute, a Swed-ish media development organization, is UNESCO’s partner in the implementation of the project component related to self-regulation and will be coordinating a capacity-building study tour from Jordan to several European countries. The Centre for Law and Democracy, a Canadian freedom of expression organization, will, in partnership with UNES-CO, organize several trainings and TOTs for government officials on the implementation of the Access to Information Law.
Stay up to date on our project news by visiting our Facebook page and newly updated website.
Newsletter Oct 2016
This project is funded by the European Union
Media freedom is everyone ’s freedom Media independence is everyone ’s independence Professional journalism makes a difference
Join us stmjo
www.stmjo.com Volume II | Issue III | 2016
SPOTLIGHT: Introducting our project partners- The Centre for Law and Democracy
Ms. Biljana Tatomir (Project Manager): [email protected]. Hanadi Gharaibeh (Project Officer): [email protected]
Ms. Lidija Sabados (Project Officer): [email protected] Ms. Rasha Arafeh (Administrative Officer): [email protected]
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Contact:
Since the beginning of this year, The Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD) has been working on providing legal analysis of three pieces of media legislation, the Access to Information Law, the Press and Publications Law, and the Audio-Visual Law. Working closely with the Media Commission, CLD has provided thorough reviews of the media legislation with the aim to fur-ther align the legislation to international standards. CLD is a freedom of expression organization based in Halifax, Canada and has been working in Jordan and the region for many years. Coming up this fall, CLD will organize several trainings for public officials on the implementation of the ATI Law, with the primary objective to build capacity of information officers to ensure that public bodies are able to follow their obligations as set out under the Law, and to develop a cadre of expert trainers who will be able to deliver further training on the ATI.
4 October, Irbid: Screening and discussion of UNESCO’s “Access to Information in Jordan: A Right for Everyone” film, Yarmouk University5 October, Amman: Screening and discussion of UNESCO’s “Ac-cess to Information in Jordan: A Right for Everyone” film, Jordan Media Institute7 October, Amman: Screening of UNESCO’s “Access to Informa-tion in Jordan: A Right for Everyone” film, European Union Film Festival, Rainbow theatre12 October, Amman: Joint UNESCO-UNOC-JMI Media and Infor-mation Literacy (MIL) event, including the launch of the UNESCO MIL Policy and Strategy Guidelines in Arabic and the UNESCO MIL MOOC in Arabic30 October, Amman: Official UNESCO Amman Media and Infor-mation Literacy Celebration 31 October-6 November, Rio de Janeiro: UNESCO Media and Information Literacy Global Week
Newsletter Oct 2016
This project is funded by the European Union
Media freedom is everyone ’s freedom Media independence is everyone ’s independence Professional journalism makes a difference
Join us stmjo
www.stmjo.com Volume II | Issue III | 2016
