Category: World
Service
Date: 11.11.2004
Printable version
Chancellor
Gordon Brown and Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for International
Development, are to give keynote speeches at a one-day conference, Towards
2005 - does the Media Matter in the Fight against Global Poverty?,
at the Lewis Media Centre, London SW1 on Wednesday 24 November 2004.
The conference, introduced by BBC Chairman Michael
Grade and BBC broadcaster Zeinab Badawi, is jointly organised
by BBC World Service Trust and the UK Department for International
Development (DFID).
Conference panellists include: Richard Curtis
(Comic Relief/Making Poverty History); Tidjane Thiam (Africa
Commission); Lorraine Heggessey (Controller, BBC ONE); Mahfuz
Anam (Daily Star, Bangladesh); Jeff Sachs (UN); Albert
Alcouloumbre Jr (Globo TV Network, Brazil); Paddy Coulter
(Reuters Foundation); Moeletsi Mbeki (Executive Chairman, Endemol,
SA); Paul Mitchell (World Bank); Kwaku Sakyi-Addo (Joy
FM, Ghana); and Raf Shakirov (former Editor, Izvestia, Russia).
In three separate sessions, moderated by Nik Gowing
of BBC World, the conference will examine the role of the media:
in raising awareness of the Millennium Development
Goals
in giving a voice to the populations of developing
countries
and as an agent of change, particularly in Africa
Stephen King, Director of BBC World Service Trust, said:
"2005 promises to be a critical year for
bringing world attention to the fight against global poverty.
"A convergence of events, including the 20th anniversary
of Live Aid, the Millennium Development Goals +5 summit and the report
of the Africa Commission, will draw increased attention to the media's
role in informing about world poverty and the media's potential to assist
more directly in alleviating it."
Notes to Editors
The BBC World Service Trust was established by the BBC
World Service as a registered charity in 1999 to alleviate poverty through
the innovative use of media in the developing world.
The Trust currently works in nore than 20 countries,
tackling health, education and good governance.
It has produced ground-breaking projects in some of
the world's poorest countries, increasing the capacity of local and
national media, building civil society, providing training in media
skills and developing health and educational campaigns.
