The proliferation of mass media has brought about decisive changes in human communication processes and behaviour. Media education aims to empower citizens by providing them with the competencies, attitudes and skills necessary to comprehend media functions.

Media education can be contextualized within two UNESCO advocacies - the human rights based approach to programming and the creation of Knowledge Societies. Access to quality media content and participation in programming are principles that are among the cornerstones of the universal right to free expression.

UNESCO has a long standing experience in enhancing media literacy, founding the Grünwald Declaration of 1982 which recognised the need for political and educational systems to promote citizens’ critical understanding of “the phenomena of communication. The Organisation has since supported a number of initiatives to introduce media and information literacy as an integral part of people’s life-long learning >UNESCO ACTION FOR MEDIA EDUCATION AND LITERACY, most recently in June 2008, bringing together experts from various regions of the world to catalyze processes to introduce media and information literacy components into teacher training curricula worldwide.

UNESCO Action for Media Education and Literacy

International Expert Group meeting on Teacher Training Curricula Enrichment for Media and Information Literacy (Paris, June 2008) First International Media Education Conference (Riyadh, March 2007) Training of Media and Information Professionals Children Media Literacy Project in Jamaica, “Look and Listen” UNESCO International Media Literacy Conference, Toulouse 1990 Educating for the Media and the Digital Age, Conference, Vienna 1999

13-06-2008 (Paris) 

Réunion du groupe international d’experts sur la formation des enseignants à l’éducation aux médias et à la maîtrise de l’information

Vladimir Gai

Chef de Section