"In May 2003, UNESCO and Sida jointly organized a seminar on ”Assistance to Media in Tension Areas and Violent Conflict”, bringing together a select number of NGOs, UN agencies and donors for two main purposes: first, to discuss various experiences and perspectives on assistance to media in conf
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lict situations and, second, to highlight the key issues relevant to conflict management and media support. The seminar, held in Vaxholm outside Stockholm, generated a number of recommendations that aimed at combining conflict management strategies and press freedom principles. These recommendations will be incorporated into the planning process leading up to World Press Freedom Day 2004, to be organized by UNESCO in Belgrade on 3 May 2004. In addition, they will be included in follow up donor discussions. A comprehensive discussion paper was produced as background for the seminar’s deliberations. The booklet before you is a compilation of the discussion papers produced for the seminar, reflecting the outcomes of the discussions." (Foreword)
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"The International Media Support (IMS) Conference, entitled ‘Friends or Foes? - Peacekeeping Forces, Humanitarian Aid and Media Development’ was held in Copenhagen on 26 and 27 November 2004. The theme of the Conference was the dilemma facing media development in the wake of peacekeeping and hum
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anitarian aid operations in conflict-affected areas. The need for rapid and effective dissemination of information from aid organisations and peacekeeping forces sometimes collides with the development of an independent media sector. The conference therefore sought to examine cases from post-conflict situations, including amongst others Liberia, Iraq, Kosovo and Afghanistan. The speakers included representative from peacekeeping forces, humanitarian aid agencies, media organisations and freedom of expression organisations." (Page 3)
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"This report outlines the findings and conclusions derived from the assessment mission undertaken by the ‘Partnership for Media and Conflict Prevention in West Africa’ to Liberia in December 2003. This mission brought together the expertise of a number of the national, regional and international
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media development and freedom of expression actors. The report seeks to layout collaborative approaches for supporting the media during the immediate and longer-term transition periods, both in terms of overcoming obstacles and developing capacities and resources, as well as contributing towards the creation of lasting peace, stability and democracy." (Executive summary, page 3)
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"This article explores (1) the cultural nature of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict; (2) the "intractability" of cultural conflicts; (3) conflict management models: reconciliation/"end-of-conflict" versus "conflict transformation" and their relation to cultural conflict; (4) the serious consequences
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of the wrong matching of models and conflicts, such as using the reconciliation model in cultural conflict; (5) the changing role of the media in international relations, and their contribution to the "crisis of expectations" that came to fruition in September 2000, with the eruption of the Intifada; (6) the possibility of the media contributing to peace processes; and (7) implications of the media adoption of the conflict transformation model. The premises are that, unlike other violent confrontations, the Middle Eastern conflict is fundamentally cultural, particularly in its Palestinian-Israeli version; that cultural conflicts are "intractable" (Lederach, 1998; Burgess&Burgess, 1996; Kraybill, 1995), in the sense that they are very difficult, perhaps impossible to resolve; that reconciliation is not the only possible or desirable outcome of conflict: transformation (Vayrynen, 1991) is another viable option; that mistaken interpretations of conflict-resolution strategies can lead to "crises of expectations" in policy-making, in the media, and in public opinion; and that the media can play important roles in these processes." (Abstract)
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