Potential Partners for Asia-Europe Cooperation

Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union
The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) is a non-profit, non-government, professional association of broadcasting organisations, formed in 1964 to facilitate the development of broadcasting in the Asia-Pacific region and to organise co-operative activities amongst its members. It currently has over 200 members in 58 countries, reaching a potential audience of about 3 billion people. The ABU provides a forum for promoting the collective interests of television and radio broadcasters, and encourages regional and international co-operation between broadcasters.

Asia-Europe Foundation
The Asia-Europe Foundation promotes greater mutual understanding between Asia and Europe through intellectual, cultural and people-to-people exchanges. Through ASEF, civil society concerns are included as a vital component of deliberations of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM). ASEF was established in February 1997 by the participating governments of ASEM. Since then, ASEF has implemented over 350 projects, engaging over 15,000 direct participants as well as reaching out to a much wider audience in Asia and Europe. ASEM now brings together 43 member states (Austria, Belgium, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Cambodia, China, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Laos, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mongolia, Myanmar, the Netherlands, Pakistan, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, United Kingdom, Vietnam), the European Commission and the ASEAN Secretariat.

Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development
UNESCO survey in 1967 indicated that training was the most important need for broadcast development in the Asia-Pacific region. It was felt that setting up a regional training Institute would help build capacity in developing countries. As a result, UNESCO established AIBD in 1977 as a UN project initially with 13 member countries. Funding came from voluntary Members' contribution, UNESCO and international communities. Since its inception, training has been AIBD's main mandate. More than 25,000 broadcasters and media professionals have benefited from various training programmes over the years. Some 1,500 broadcasters from 50 countries are currently being retrained through AIBD programmes each year.

EU Centre Singapore
The EU Centre in Singapore aims to promote knowledge & understanding of the European Union, its institutions, policies, and impact on Singapore and the region. We work with different partners to raise the awareness of the EU, its relationship with Asia and its global role through various events, research and policy briefs. The activities of the EU Centre are funded by the European Commission and the two hosting universities– NUS and NTU.

European Journalism Centre
The European Journalism Centre (EJC) is an independent, international, non-profit institute dedicated to the highest standards in journalism, primarily through the further training of journalists and media professionals. Building on its extensive international network, the Centre operates as a facilitator and partner in a wide variety of training projects. The EJC plays a unique role at the European level as a partner and organiser for media companies, professional organisations, journalism schools and governmental bodies seeking to establish activities and projects.

Transparency International
Transparency International, the global civil society organization leading the fight against corruption, brings people together in a powerful worldwide coalition to end the devastating impact of corruption on men, women and children around the world. TI’s mission is to create change towards a world free of corruption. Transparency International challenges the inevitability of corruption, and offers hope to its victims. Since its founding in 1993, TI has played a lead role in improving the lives of millions around the world by building momentum for the anti-corruption movement. TI raises awareness and diminishes apathy and tolerance of corruption, and devises and implements practical actions to address it. Transparency International is a global network including more than 90 locally established national chapters and chapters-in-formation. These bodies fight corruption in the national arena in a number of ways. They bring together relevant players from government, civil society, business and the media to promote transparency in elections, in public administration, in procurement and in business. TI’s global network of chapters and contacts also use advocacy campaigns to lobby governments to implement anti-corruption reforms.

Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Regional Media Program
Asia remains a difficult continent in terms of media policy. In an international comparison of press freedom, most countries are a long way down the ladder. Government bodies frequently obstruct the work of independent media by legislative means or are seeking to strengthen state influence over such media. Increasing trends towards the commercialisation of media and the fashion for infotainment are barriers to high quality, inclusive, neutral reporting. Repressive conditions, arbitrary licensing procedures, private and state monopolies, the criminalisation of journalists, violence and intimidation, poor wages, corruption and inadequate training are the main reasons, alongside state- and self-censorship, for the rather sluggish emergence of free, democratic media in the region. The regional media work undertaken by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Asia therefore promotes the creation of a legal and political framework that guarantees freedom of opinion and information, and permits access to pluralistic, quality information. The FES also advises the media and major communication bodies on how to perform their role as free, independent vehicles of information for societies engaged in a process of democratic development. This takes the concrete form of developing an Asian model for public broadcasting and implementing and builds on the Bangkok Declaration. Apart from continuous training designed to improve independent, quality journalism, the FES also contributes to international dialogue between media workers, politicians and the public. To this end the regional media project works not only with national partners, but also with the three regional media organisations: the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD), Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) and Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU).

Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Regional Media Program
The Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) is a political foundation in Germany which operates two education centres and 16 education institutes nationwide. The Regional Programmes in East and Southeast Asia, based in Singapore, focus on three key areas, namely political dialogue, media and the rule of law. As far as the Media Programme is concerned, it aims at promoting a free, responsible and ethical press in the region. This is achieved by intensifying the dialogue amongst leading journalists in Southeast Asia through regional conferences and meetings as well as through training activities for journalists in the region.
The “Media Programme Asia” was established in 1996 to promote a free, responsible and ethical press in the region. This is achieved by strengthening dialogue amongst leading editors and journalists through regional conferences and meetings and by two key initiatives: the Asia News Network (ANN) and the Konrad Adenauer Center for Journalism (ACFJ) at Ateneo de Manila University. The Asia News Network (ANN), comprising 21 English-language national daily newspapers in 18 Asian countries, was initiated to provide avenues for cooperation and to optimize coverage of major news events in the region. The Konrad Adenauer Center for Journalism (ACFJ) at the Ateneo de Manila University completes our vision and mission in journalism development in Asia. It was established in June 2000 as a joint initiative of the KAS and the Ateneo de Manila University. The ACFJ offers degree and non-degree programmes in subject-specific reporting as well as basic courses such as journalistic ethics.

UNESCO Paris
The Communication and Information Sector (CI) was established in its present form in 1990. Its programmes are rooted in UNESCO’s Constitution, which requires the Organization to promote the “free flow of ideas by word and image.” Besides its staff at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, the CI Sector is represented in 27 UNESCO field offices. It consists of the Communication Development Division, the Division for Freedom of Expression, Democracy and Peace and the Information Society Division. The Sector also provides the secretariats for two intergovernmental programmes: the International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) and the Information for All Programme (IFAP).

Tags: Partners, Asia, Europe, media, communication