UNA-ACCD workshop draws roadmap for media professional principles to address child issues

Jeddah (UNA-OIC) – A virtual workshop, organized Wednesday (February 17, 2021) by the Union of OIC News Agencies (UNA), the Arab Council for Childhood and Development (ACCD) and its partners (the Arab Gulf Program for Development and the Arab League), drew up a roadmap for media professional principles to tackle child issues, especially amid conflicts, crimes and child labor challenges.
The workshop, held under the theme “Media Professional Principles to Address Child Rights Issues" and the slogan "Child-friendly media", brought together more than 120 journalists from the OIC countries, with the aim of developing the skills of media workers in news agencies, radio stations, television channels, electronic platforms, and OIC institutions, on the professional principles that must be taken into account when dealing with children's rights issues in the media and how to be implemented.
At the opening of the workshop, Acting UNA Director-General Director Ahmed bin Abdullah Al-Qarni welcomed, in his speech delivered on his behalf by Assistant Director-General Mohammed bin Abd Rabbo Al-Yami, the participants, stressing the Union’s keenness to cooperate with ACCD to serve a broad sector of society, namely the media sector concerned with childhood issues. He highlighted that the workshop topic is extremely important for consolidating the professional principles of media workers on addressing child issues.
Al-Qarni noted that the workshop comes in the context of the outputs of the UNA First Media Forum, organized on 16 May 2020 under the patronage of Acting Saudi Media Minister Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi, who also serves as the chairman of the Union's Executive Council. He stated that the forum witnessed the launch of the UNA training project that aims to train 2,200 media professionals, in its first stage.
For his part, ACCD Secretary-General Dr. Hassan Al-Bilawi indicated that the workshop provides a scientific and practical effort, through professional principles, to address media issues of children's rights – as one of the components of the Media Observatory for Arab Child Rights project – which the Council is carrying out in partnership with the Arab Gulf Program for Development (AGFUND) and the League of Arab States.
He added that the observatory aims to provide a mechanism for monitoring, analysis, follow-up, and evaluation, in order to improve Arab media performance towards issues of children’s rights and upbringing, leading to child-friendly media.
Bilawi explained that the current circumstances assert the importance of the media, and refuel demand for new media roles, in light of technological progress and the repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic. This has prompted ACCD to aspire, through applying these principles, to a professional media that promotes the public interest; takes into account humanity, social justice, equality and fairness; respects rights and privacy; provides correct information; supports all development efforts, and be a voice for all marginalized and vulnerable groups, including children.
AGFUND Media Director Abdullatif Al-Dwaihi, confirmed that the Program attaches great importance to children's issues, in addition to AGFUND's Financial Inclusion Banks, empowering women, open education, and supporting civil society.
Dwaihi noted that AGFUND has established the Arab Open University (AOU), the Center of Arab Woman for Training and Research (CAWTAR), the Arab Council for Childhood and Development (ACCD), nine financial inclusion banks, and the Arab Network for NGOs, in addition to the Prince Talal International Prize for Human Development, with $1 million dollars annually. He stressed the importance of the workshop topic to discuss the media values that the media should professionally and practically abide by in all traditional and modern media outlets and channels
Professor of Media at Cairo University and Media Advisor to Egypt's Ministry of Higher Education Dr. Adel Abdel-Ghaffar, who administered the workshop, warned against not taking into account press scoop and excitement when dealing with professional values, and the ensuing negative psychological and social effects from the lack of professional values in media coverage of incidents of child physical and sexual abuse.
Hazem Abdo, Head of UNA Foreign Affairs, moderated the workshop, Abdel-Ghaffar outlined seven general and special professional principles for the media to consider while dealing with children's rights issues. These include children's participation in the production of media content; news coverage of children's rights issues; in addition to the media dealing with adverts targeting both children and children's issues that are published through digital media; children with disabilities; and the gifted, and street children.
The lecturer called on the media to be more sensitive when both the victim and the accused are children, noting that some children are more likely to worry about events covered by the media, due to factors that affect their reactions. He underscored the need to help children feel safe when traumatic events occur, and warned of presenting scary or distressing images to children or images that encourage them to embrace violent or aggressive behavior toward society.
Dr. Abdel-Ghaffar stressed the need to strictly adhere to professional principles when using children's pictures, and to avoid using them in a way that undermines their dignity or invades their privacy, especially amid crises and conflicts. He also noted the need to very sensitively consider the freedom of the media to act while conducting interviews and preparing reports on some crimes against children, especially those who suffered from sexual assaults.