GFMD welcomes OECD’s adoption of the Development Cooperation Principles on Relevant and Effective Support to Media and the Information Environment

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has officially adopted the Development Cooperation Principles on Relevant and Effective Support to Media and the Information Environment.

The Principles are now available online here

The adoption by the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) at a meeting on March 22, in Paris follows the Principles’ approval by the DAC’s Network on Governance earlier this month.

The Principles are the culmination of over two years of advocacy led by the Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD) and the Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA) in cooperation with the DAC secretariat and representatives from the United Kingdom, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States, France, and others.

This advocacy effort was made possible by our community – implementing organisations, civil society representatives, and media development experts – actively engaging in numerous consultations with bilateral donor agencies, intergovernmental organisations and other policymakers and funders.

“The adoption of the Development Cooperation Principles on Relevant and Effective Support to Media and the Information Environment marks a historic milestone for the media development community. By acknowledging the importance of supporting media and information environments, the OECD not only underscores the vital role of media in democratic societies but also lays the groundwork for fostering resilience against disinformation, promoting transparency, and safeguarding freedom of expression. This adoption signifies a unified commitment among nations to uphold democratic values, protect journalistic integrity, and ensure access to reliable information, thereby shaping the future trajectory of media development on a global scale,”  said Mira Milosevic, GFMD’s Executive Director. 

The Principles aim to respond to the urgency facing the information environment, where a confluence of financial, social, political, and technological forces increasingly undermines media as a democratic institution, journalism as a profession, and information as a public good. These include the capture of media interests, threats to journalist safety, declining public trust in journalism, collapsing business models, pervasive disinformation, and growing authoritarianism.

The Principles seek to reinvigorate international support for media and the information environment in the face of this crisis, uniting the vital role of media and journalism in development and democracy, emerging initiatives to improve innovation and coordination, and growing understanding of aid and development effectiveness and the impact of assistance.

The six Principles aspire to encourage development cooperation providers to improve the relevance and effectiveness of their support to preserve, protect, and promote public interest media and information integrity in the following ways:

Next steps 

GovNet will undertake a lesson-learning exercise on the Principles in their next plenary in November 2024. GovNet members will also review implementation, based on voluntary member reporting every two years. The Principles will also be presented by the DAC Chair at the UNESCO International Programme for the Development of Communication (IDPC) in November. At that time, the IDPC might adopt them as well.

GFMD and CIMA will continue to work with the DAC and other stakeholders to advance the implementation of the Principles at the international, national, and local levels. This includes:

• Holding dedicated multi-stakeholder meetings at World Press Freedom Day (Santiago, Chile) and the IPI Congress (Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
• Socialising the principles within existing processes and mechanisms such as the Media Freedom Coalition and the Freedom Online Coalition
• Leveraging the adoption of the Principles to ensure that media support and the information environment are appropriately referenced in the Pact for the Future, the outcome document of the UN Summit of the Future
• Exploring opportunities to develop toolkits and encourage peer-to-peer learning.

How can you contribute?

Subscribe to GFMD’s email lists. This is where we coordinate learning, policy and advocacy activities among our members and partners.

Relevant resources

• For more additional information on the consultation process and relevant reports, please check out GFMD IMPACT’s literature review.
• The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) welcomes the adoption of new Development Cooperation Principles for Relevant and Effective Support to Media and the Information Environment 
• Media Freedom Coalition Statement on the OECD Development Assistance Committee’s Media and Information Principles
• OECD approves new guiding principles for media development (overview by DW Akademie)