UNESCO IPDC supports two 2026 projects in partnership with the Public Media Alliance

The Public Media Alliance (PMA) is pleased to announced that it has been awarded two funds through UNESCO’s International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC), a specialised UN committee for media development. The two projects that will be implemented are: the “Strengthening Media Literacy Across Generations in the Caribbean” project in the Caribbean, and the “COVID’s Legacy: The Role of African Media in Keeping Women Journalists Safe” project in West Africa.

In the Caribbean, PMA will build upon its previous media literacy efforts in the region. In 2024, PMA successfully implemented a media literacy project that trained journalists and teachers, while engaging nearly 400 schoolchildren ages 8-16 across four Caribbean countries. This year’s project will also see attention turned onto senior citizens, as well as young people.

The upcoming IPDC project – which will take place in Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad & Tobago – will train 60 individuals from the media, universities, and libraries, on age-specific media literacy approaches. The training will culminate in an ‘Action Day’ where the trainees will pilot an initiative of their own, targeting both the youth and senior citizens. The project will be implemented with the support of the UNESCO Caribbean Office.

The second IPDC-funded project will take place in Ghana and Nigeria, and will target safety issues of women journalists by evaluating safeguards, identifying gaps, and strengthening physical, online, and mental wellbeing measures. PMA will conduct research and develop case studies on media organisations in Ghana and Nigeria, as well as case studies providing a national overview. There will also be capacity-building workshops for women journalists and media managers, to ultimately support the development of “safety toolboxes”, to manage risks and improve safety protocols. The project will be implemented with the support of the UNESCO Dhakar Office.

“We’re excited as always to continue our relationship with UNESCO IPDC. These projects are important not only for the regions we implement them in and the media organisations involved, but also more broadly, as their outputs will have relevance and impact further afield.” – Desilon Daniels, PMA’s Project & Advocacy Coordinator

PMA has a long-established relationship with UNESCO IPDC. In recent years, we have undertaken projects in Southern Africa, the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, and beyond, covering topics such as thwarting disinformation, gender-sensitive reporting, crisis management, and conflict reporting. Just last year, PMA implemented a project in the Caribbean focused on how journalists can harness data journalism towards building disaster resilience.