Creativity is central to the work of the BBC World Service Trust. As Radharani Mitra, Creative Director of our India office says: "the heart of our work is creativity and ideas. Creativity is part of our DNA".
This approach helped Radharani and her team to reach more than 100 million people in India through the hugely successful "Condom Condom" multi-media HIV and AIDS awareness campaign.
Over the last year, 150 projects in over 40 countries have used the creative talent of BBC World Service Trust staff and partners to help reduce poverty and promote human rights around the world.
From online training for "citizen journalists" in Iran and hard-hitting drama with a focus on HIV and AIDS in Nigeria to media training on transitional justice in five post-conflict African nations, we have been at the forefront of delivering media for development.
The global challenge
We strive to ensure that the poorest and most remote communities have a voice in a world that is becoming increasingly connected
Stephen King, Director BBC World Service Trust
But the past year has also seen global shifts that present new challenges to development. The effects of the ongoing global financial crisis, rising food prices, an uncertain environmental future and a changing geo-political landscape mean we are working in fast-moving times.
World leaders will mark the half-way point toward the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) targets at a UN conference in New York this week, against a background of bleak headlines.
No African country is on course to achieve even one of its targets despite advances in health and education, and many countries have made little or no progress on two of the central goals covering maternal mortality and child health.
Yet global challenges can also present opportunities: "Development challenges will be met by many new players and the role of the private sector and ... non-traditional funds will become more prominent", says Director Stephen King in his report for the Annual Review.
Through creative partnerships, the BBC World Service Trust is well placed to take advantage of these new opportunities.
The Trust at Ten
The best of any organisation is its people and here we are very lucky
Karma Abu Sharif, Assistant Project Manager Middle East
The Annual Review celebrates the best of the past year's achievement and looks forward to an exciting year ahead. The BBC World Service Trust will be a decade old in 2009 and continues to expand through exciting and innovative projects around the world.
"We strive to ensure that the poorest and most remote communities have a voice in a world that is becoming increasingly connected", says Stephen King.
Through a willingness and ability to blend broadcasting, development and education, projects have reached millions in emergency situations such as Burma following Cyclone Nargis in May 2008 and the ongoing conflict in Darfur.
"The best of any organisation is its people and here we are very lucky", says Karma Abu Sharif, Assistant Project Manager Middle East.
To read more about our projects and goals, and to access the full Annual Review click here (pdf format). Please note that on slower connections, the document may take some time to download (1mb connection: 35 seconds, 512k connection: 65 seconds, 56k connection: 12 minutes)