| Dr. Braid in AGFUND Prize for development projects |
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AIJC President Emeritus, Dr. Florangel Rosario Braid, recently served as jury member of the Arab Gulf Programme for Development (AGFUND) Prize. She attended the awards ceremony held on December 1, 2010 in Kuala Lumpur.
The UNDP-affiliated AGFUND Prize aims “to alleviate poverty in poor countries by focusing on factors that militate against development,” Dr. Braid said. Efforts include improvement of education, health as well as institutional development and capacity building. These initiatives will help ensure that development activities do not damage resources and the capacity of people to work on their own development, she explained.
The awards ceremony was graced by AGFUND President HRH Prince Talal Bin Abdul Aziz AL Saud and Queen Sofia of Spain. |
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AIJC organizes UNESCO-APIN meet in Manila
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AIJC organized the 5th Asia Pacific Information Network (APIN) Meeting and ICT Literacy Workshop last November 23-26, 2010 at the Bayview Park Hotel in Manila.
UNESCO Bangkok convened the meeting in cooperation with the UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines (NatCom) and UNESCO Information for All Programme (IFAP). Dr. Susanne Ornager, UNESCO Bangkok-Adviser for Communication and Information in Asia, represented UNESCO at the meeting, while NatCom was represented by Ms. Jeannette D. Tuason, Deputy Executive Director.
A total of 18 information policy makers and executives representing 17 APIN member-countries participated in the meeting. Each country representative presented a country report on the status of information access and media and information literacy. The participants also ratified the APIN Constitution and discussed the APIN Action Plan on Information Access and on Media and Information Literacy.
AIJC President Ramon R.Tuazon presented the Philippines’ country report.
APIN is a UNESCO-recognized network of countries committed to promote ICT literacy and application, information and knowledge networking, sharing of information resources, and the use of international standards and best practices in communication, information, and informatics.
It is also the main implementing arm of UNESCO’s Information for All Programme (IFAP) in the Asia-Pacific region. Organized in 2002, APIN now has 19 member-countries whose representatives meet every two years in different cities of the region and on different themes.
Back-to-back with the three-day meeting, a one-day workshop on competencies for developing ICT literacy was conducted by Dr. Elena Pernia, Chair, Communication Research Department of the College of Mass Communication, University of the Philippines - Diliman and author, Strategy Framework for Promoting ICT Literacy in the Asia-Pacific Region, a UNESCO publication.
Welcome remarks were delivered by Ms. Tuason and Dr. Ornager.
Keynote Address was delivered by Commission on Information and Communication Technology (CICT) Commissioner Monchito Ibrahim in behalf of CICT Secretary Ivan John Uy.
The next APIN meeting will be held in Iran in 2012.
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Synthesis forum: multidisciplinary inquiry on the culture of impunity
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As a culminating activity of a series of forums on violence against journalists, the Synthesis Forum on a Multidisciplinary Inquiry on the Culture of Impunity in the Killing of Filipino Journalists was held on December 9, 2010 at Club Filipino, Greenhills.
Conducted by AIJC with the support of the UNESCO National Commission (NatCom), the forum aimed to summarize and synthesize the findings from three previous forums, enrich and validate the initial research framework, identify partners for a multidisciplinary study, and prepare an action plan for implementing the study.
Ms. Jeannette D. Tuason, UNESCO NatCom Deputy Executive Director, announced during the forum that UNESCO Paris had approved, under the Participation Programme, the AIJC proposal on a multidisciplinary study on the culture of impunity which will cover the preparation of experts’ papers and the conduct of case studies.
A total of 31 participants attended the Synthesis Forum. They represented the academe, professional associations and media organizations, including the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication (CMC) and the National College of Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG), Ateneo de Manila University-Human Rights Center, Philippine Social Science Council (PSSC), Philippine National Historical Society (PNHS), Philippine Association of Communication Educators (PACE), Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), and National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP).
Other participants were from the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), Philippine National Police-Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management (PNP-DIDM), SND Sulong Pilipino, Channel 4 and the Ilocos Times in Laoag City. |
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News and feature writing for professionals
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AIJC conducted another seminar-workshop on news and feature writing for professionals on November 4-5, 2010. Held at iCollege in España Ave., Manila, the seminar-workshop was attended by personnel from both government and private organizations.
The scope of the two-day training included developing story ideas, writing news and features for the company newsletter, review of common grammatical errors, principles of clear and effective writing, and packaging a newsletter, among others. Critiquing of outputs was undertaken by participants together with assigned mentors during the write-shop. |
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Advocacy training on CFC phaseout |
AIJC held a series of advocacy and communication skills enhancement training as a component of the public awareness campaign of the Philippine Ozone Desk-National CFC Phaseout Plan Project.
The training series was conducted in the following areas: Quezon City, November 8-12, 2010; Baguio City, November 18-19; Cebu City, November 22-26; and Davao City, December 5-10. Participants were information officers, trainers and lawyers from the Philippine Ozone Desk, National CFC Phaseout Plan-Project Management Unit and the Environment Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
The training program aimed to equip the participants with knowledge and skills in advocacy and communication to mobilize resources for sustaining the National CFC Phaseout Plan (NCPP).
Subject areas included advocacy tools and strategies, effective technical writing, oral communication, and media management, among others. The participants also went through practicum and application as part of the training program.
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