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Global News |
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WACC tackles difficult questions about its future |
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By Philip Lee, WACC Deputy Director of Programmes
 | | WACC’s Strategic Planning Process is well under way and has been given a boost by a Roundtable Meeting of WACC partners that took place in Helsinki, Finland, 27-28 April 2011. Some twenty international participants addressed the challenges posed by participatory communication for development.
The Roundtable took place during a meeting of WACC’s Officers and was hosted by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (ELCF). Those present were warmly welcomed by Dr Kimmo Kääriäinen, Director of the ELCF Department of International Relations and Rev. Juha Rajämäki, a member of WACC’s Board of Directors. Read more...
| | WACC’s Officers and partnersin Helsinki, Finland, 27-28 April 2011 | | |
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WACC calls on communicators to use digital media responsibly and ethically |
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| | To mark the World Press Freedom Day, 3 May 2011, the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) is calling on communicators to use new media responsibly in order to strengthen press freedom and communication rights worldwide. Open access to the Internet, social networks, and new-generation digital devices raise significant concerns related to accountability, privacy, and security, says WACC.
Full statement....
“21st Century Media: New Frontiers, New Barriers” is the theme of World Press Freedom Day, 3 May 2011. The focus is on celebrating the potential of digital technologies as well as established forms of journalism to uphold the right to communicate, freedom of expression, democratic governance, and sustainable development. Read more...
| | Image source: UNESCO | | |
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One voice leading to many voices and change: WACC Easter Message 2011 |
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By Amany Latif Ebied - Secretary of WACC
| | One of my favourite movies is “Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde”. In the movie Elle Woods heads to Washington D.C. to pass a bill on animal cosmetic testing. She took it upon herself to have a “voice on behalf of those who couldn’t speak” and to outlaw animal testing.
At the end of the movie she narrates a story which has lingered in my mind since then and I would like to share it with you on the occasion of the Easter celebration. Read more...
| | Amany Latif Ebied - Secretary of WACC | | |
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Regional News |
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Pluralism in broadcasting throughout the Americas needs guarantees |
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By María Teresa Aveggio, Programme Manager
| | Pluralism and diversity in radio broadcasting and in audiovisual communication services are necessary to strengthen democratic debate in Latin American societies. This is a recommendation, among others, from the 2010 Annual Report of the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission (IACHR).
Presented on April 15, 2011, by Catalina Botero, Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, the report states that in order to promote pluralism there is a need to “Adopt legislation to ensure transparent, public, and equitable criteria for the allocation of radio frequencies and the new digital dividend. Read more... | Catalina Botero: Photo by Juan Manuel Herrera/OAS
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WACC Europe’s new officers focus on regional profile |
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By Praxedis Bouwman, new chairperson, WACC-Europe
 | | WACC Europe will reconsider its purpose and opportunities in the context of communications based on Christian values.
Traditionally, WACC Europe, as part of to the World Association for Christian Communication, is a strong promoter of religious television via its TV-festival, organized once every three years in cooperation with its Roman Catholic counterpart, SIGNIS, the World Catholic Association for Communication. Over the past three years a further initiative was started to network Church communication and media professionals at the decision-making level. Read more...
| Praxedis Bouwman, new chairperson, WACC-Europe
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Features |
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UN Review on AIDS: Is the World Moving Away from HIV? |
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Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (EAA), Press Release, 11 April 2011
 | | UNITED NATIONS -- Representatives of faith-based advocacy and humanitarian groups participating in an 8 April hearing at the United Nations (UN) on the HIV pandemic said the meeting highlighted progress that had been made but also revealed serious challenges ahead.
Efforts by faith groups and others will have to be particularly focused and intense in the weeks leading up to a high-level 8-10 June meeting at the UN that will assess progress and set new targets in the global response to HIV and AIDS. Read more...
| | Peter Prove, the Executive Director of EAA and Rev. Karin Achtelstetter, WACC General Secretary. | | |
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Thinking and communicating outside the box |
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Religion Communicators Council (RCC) 2011
By Philip Lee, WACC Deputy-Director of Programmes 
| | The National Convention of the Religion Communicators Council took place in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA, 31 March to 2 April 2011 on the theme “Communicating Outside the Box”.
As a curtain-raiser to the Convention, WACC Global and WACC North America joined forces to screen The Garden at the End of the World, a documentary by Australian film-maker Gary Caganoff and winner of the WACC-SIGNIS Human Rights Award 2010. The film portrays the lives of those hardest hit by the consequences of war in Afghanistan – widows and orphans, who number tens of thousands. It follows two women, Afghan refugee Mahboba Rawi and internationally recognised permaculturalist Rosemary Morrow, who offer alternative views on how to solve the problems facing the country. Read more...
| | Dr Sarah Macharia, programme manager, Media and Gender Justice, (WACC) | | |
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