Communication and Information Sector Cooperation with Peru DGs visit to Peru February 2011

CI Information Division 1. Memory of the World Programme Following an awareness-raising workshop in Lima in October 2010 to familiarize Peruvian documentary heritage institutions with the Memory of the World Programme and its objectives, there was agreement that a MoW national committee should be created to further the work within the country. The committee has since been established. 2. Peruvian items inscribed in the MOW Register: Year of submission: 2007 Year of inscription: 2007 Link to Nomination Form Country: Bolivia Colombia Mexico Peru The documentary collections of music from the 16th to the 18th century from different countries of the American continent are an essential part of the cultural history of the New World in all aspects: religious and lay, civil and political, cultural and popular, vocal and instrumental, mystic and dramatic, renaissance, baroque and classic. They constitute the testimony of different cultures (Indigenous, African and European) which mixed and gave birth, to a new culture, not completely western, nor Hispanic, nor purely American, for three centuries. UNESCO Quito Office Projects and activities recently implemented in Peru Main line of action 1: Promoting freedom of expression and access to information Regular Programme

1. With the support of UNESCO, FUNDAMEDIOS organized the First Andean

Conference on Freedom of Expression (Quito, 24-25 October 2008) with the objective of analyzing the situation of freedom of expression in the Andean sub-region, reviewing monitoring mechanisms and defining a joint plan of action with NGOs working on FEX issues in the sub-region. The Press and Society Institute (IPYS) represented Peru at the meeting and participated in the implementation of follow-up activities.

2. The book Right to Information in Latin America: A Comparative Legal

Survey", written by Canadian consultant Toby Mendel, was coordinated and published by UNESCO/Quito. It was distributed throughout the region, including in Peru. The study offered a legal analysis about the right to information in Latin America, by comparing the laws in force in 11 Latin American countries: Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Dominican Republic and Uruguay. This document helps to clarify some of the tensions and challenges concerning FOI laws from a regional comparative perspective. Besides, it describes the way in which these countries have handled the passing of FOI laws and underlines their strengths and weaknesses.

3. Within

the framework of sub-regional initiatives organized to commemorate World Press Freedom Day (WPFD), the UNESCOQuito office implemented several activities to strengthen press freedom and the right to information in the sub-region, including in Peru, such as: a website dedicated to World Press Freedom Day, 14 awareness-raising conferences on press freedom issues, a press kit for the media (see graph on press coverage in Peru), educational activities and materials for secondary schools, and a comic book on freedom of expression principles that is being distributed throughout the region.

Main line of action 2: Strengthening free, independent and pluralistic media and communication for sustainable development Regular Programme

1. In collaboration with the University of the Sabana, the First IberianAmerican Meeting of Research Networks in Audiovisual Communication

and Journalism was organized in Bogota on 30 September-3 October 2008. Its purpose was to update media owners and directors, journalists, professors and researchers in subjects such as public access to information, journalistic practices, the impact of economic interests on the quality of journalism, and media speech as builder of public opinion. Around 150 Iberian-American participants were trained on concrete ways of improving the quality of the information they deliver to their audiences. The meeting was attended by Peruvian journalists.

2. Project Mapping of Communication and Journalism Training Centres in

Latin America and the Caribbean was implemented in collaboration with the Federation of Latin American Communication Faculties (FELAFACS), whose secretariat was until recently based in the University of Lima (Peru). It created a map of communication and journalism training institutions in Latin America, and their respective programmes, and identified models of quality accreditation of communication and journalism programmes in Latin America. As a result, an updated data base of educational institutions in each country (including contact professors, pre-graduate and post-graduate programmes, number of students and professors, certifications and degrees offered, etc) is now available. This study also serves as a basis for CIs current Center of Excellence development programme in the region.

3. Projects All radios in the Web and Manual on ICTs for Radio Dummies,
were implemented in collaboration with the NGO Radialistas Apasionadas y Apasionados. The objective of the former was to offer Web hosting and services as well as virtual training to Latin American and Caribbean community radios. The latter led to the publication by UNESCO/Quito, UNESCO/Montevideo and UNESCO/San Jose of a manual for the setting up, maintenance and management of radio stations using modern ICTs. As a second phase of this initiative, a series of training workshops are currently being organized in the region in order to make use of the Manuals contents. The Manual has been distributed to Peruvian community radio stations.

4.

Updating and re-publishing eight Training manuals for radio communicators, addressed to Latin American countries,

including Peru, on subjects related to producing community-related news, conducting interviews, producing radio magazines, developing participation platforms for citizens, etc. This project was carried out by the Latin American Association of Radio Education (ALER).

International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC)

1. Project Human Rights in Latin America and the Caribbean, was

implemented by the World Association of Community Radios-Latin America and the Caribbean (AMARC-ALC). It allowed community journalists to receive training on Human Rights and journalistic production and join the Plsars correspondent network. The project involved Peruvian community journalists.

2. The Latin American Association for Radio Education (ALER) carried out the
project Radio journalism 2.0 for the understanding and exercise of the right to information, developing skills of media practitioners to enable them to utilize ICTs to strengthen their journalistic practices. The project included Peruvian trainees.

3. Radio Oriente de Yurimaguas implemented the project Red Radial

Amaznica, addressed to four ethnic groups of Peru who work in six radio stations. The main objective was to raise awareness of the rights and concerns of excluded sectors, especially of native communities, foster dialogue between political and social actors and contribute to the design, implementation and monitoring of local and regional policies. 4. TV Cultura (Peru) organized an itinerant training programme in which the trainers travelled and joined the production team of each participating community TV channel while producing a wellknown national news programme. This mechanism allowed to improve production quality on the spot and had an impact on the entire information structure of the channel. Thirty journalists and 45 technicians were trained. A manual on news production was printed and is available on CD-ROM.

The Consejo de la Prensa Peruana (CPP) of Peru (the organization that

5.

gathers Peruvian media owners) is presently finishing the implementation of project Media, ethics and democracy, with the objective of promoting ethics in journalism as a means to strengthen the role of independent media, enhancing government transparency, reinforcing freedom of expression values and ultimately contributing towards the consolidation of democracy in Peru. The target group consisted of 60 journalists and 30 media owners in the Cusco and Ica regions of Peru who work in over 35 urban and rural media and information outlets. They were trained in issues such as: transparency, ethics and press coverage of corruption; social responsibility and ethics in the press; understanding legislation and ethics, including legal implications of the use of air waves; advertising and independence.

6. The regional project Strengthening democracy by promoting investigative

journalism and transparent access to public information, being implemented by Instituto Prensa y Sociedad (IPYS) of Peru, aims to train journalists who work for private and community-based media in poor regions of Peru and Ecuador in investigative journalism and the application of digital tools to strengthen their research and coverage of public issues. The objective is to improve the quality of the information and thus strengthen the publics capacity to monitor and participate in public issues. The project will contribute to building the capacity of journalists to inform professionally about the issues that affect the poorest members of society, while fighting the culture of secrecy.

7. Through project Strengthening media as a platform for democratic

discourse through training and application of Web 2.0/3.0 ICT tools, the Latin American Information Agency (ALAI) wishes to respond to the need of marginalized social groups to exercise their right to freedom of expression by making their viewpoints known to the rest of society and participate in democratic processes at local, national and regional levels. The methodology to be used will promote greater synergy and exchange among alternative media in the region. It combines a seminar, an on-line training course and a follow-up evaluation process to reflect on these issues and develop networking mechanisms, using Web 2.0 tools, and exploring Web 3.0 options. Peruvian trainees are participating in the training programme.

8. The Center for Studies on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information (CELE) of the University of Palermo (Argentina) and the UNESCO Office in Quito organized a meeting of organizations of the Andean Group of Freedom of Information (GALI) in order to evaluate the mechanisms being currently used to monitor violations of freedom of expression in the region. The meeting focused on analyzing the sources of information and research being used, and explored how new technology platforms may improve the scope and accuracy of the registration processes, the dissemination of alerts and the indicators and statistics produced by the monitoring system. This activity was organized within the framework of IPDCs regional project Strengthening monitoring of Freedom of Expression in the Andean region and was attended by the Press and Society Institute (Instituto Prensa y Sociedad, IPYS) of Peru. In July 2011 there will be a second meeting of the GALI organizations in order to assess progress and / or problems encountered during that period. The scope of the new monitoring system will then be finally decided, as well as the strategies to be implemented to improve the current mechanisms.

9. Two new project proposals involving Peruvian institutions were submitted

to IPDC in 2011: PERU: Empowering community reporters for the production of documentary media, submitted by the Peruvian Documentary Association (DOCUPERU) for an amount of $ 36.000 REGIONAL: Strengthening community media as a Platform for Democratic discourse by training in ICTs and gender for women journalists, submitted by the ILLA Education and Communication Center, in Lima, Peru for an amount of US$ 38,275

Main line of action 3: Fostering universal access to information and knowledge and the development of infostructures Regular Programme 1. UNESCO-Quito is currently developing the terms of reference of a joint initiative with the Trust of the Americas of the Organization of American States (OEA) in order to evaluate the situation of handicapped people in the Andean region (including Peru) in terms of access to Information and use of ICTs (including in formal and non-formal education). The evaluation will allow formulating an action plan with the aim of eliminating current barriers to access information.

2. Through a joint initiative of the CI and ED Sectors of UNESCO-Quito, project

New teachers, new technologies aims at building a pedagogical proposal

for the appropriation of ICTs and digital literacy in the undergraduate programmes for secondary-school teachers in the Andean countries (including Peru). The proposal will include a mapping of pioneer experiences, specialized institutions and experts in the sub-region; a combined on-line/face-to-face training module incorporating the use of ICTs in teacher training; and the implementation of the module by a group of participating institutions in the Andean countries and according to each countrys particular needs.

3. The Peruvian National Commission was invited to a training session

organized by UNESCO/Quito in preparation of 36 C/5 prior to the regional consultation meeting organized in Trinidad and Tobago in July 2010.

Information for All Programme (IFAP)

With extra-budgetary funding provided by the government of Spain (US$600,000), Project E-government Model for World Heritage Cities; Cartagena de Indias (Colombia), Cusco (Peru), and Quito (Ecuador) was implemented in 20062008. It aimed at promoting e-governance in three world heritage cities in the Andean sub-region. The project provided training to 1,000 public officers responsible for the processing and management of public information. On the other hand, it promoted the participation of citizens by training more than 2,000 members of communities in the use of ICTs for information search. Finally, the project equipped the three cities with 20 public-access points where citizens can easily use e-government services and look for information. A second phase for this project was approved by Spain (US$164,000) in 2010. As a first step, UNESCO will actively promote the use in Peru of the materials developed within the framework of the first phase of project, particularly the Multimedia training programme for secondary schools, which introduces the concepts of citizens participation, human rights and e-governance to teenagers.