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The Media21 Global Journalism Network and the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) will be holding an interactive and practical two-week workshop (March 31-April 12, 2008) in Geneva and Southern Lebanon to explore the effectiveness of international peacekeeping and peacebuilding efforts

Many donor governments and aid organizations still have problems grasping the crucial importance of involving media as the most effective way for putting across key global issues, such as climate change, health, migration, human rights and intellectual property. All too often, they regard media support as an afterthought or a public relations exercise. A better informed press, however, can respond to real needs, including the critical monitoring of the world aid industry, which urgently requires greater accountability, not only the public-at-large but vis-a-vis the very people - notably the victims - they are supposed to be helping.

The initiative is part of an ongoing effort by Media21 (www.media21geneva.org) to provide experienced local and regional journalists from the world over with a broader perspective of key “global issues”. An estimated 20-25 editors, journalists and producers are expected to attend the peacekeeping workshop. The field trip will enable participants to explore the impact of landmines and clusterbombs on civilian populations. Limited spaces are also open to communications representatives from non-media organizations. Similar workshops are being organized later this year on Access to Health (May), the impact of climate change on coastal areas and island states (June) and migration (November).

Media21 also involves other partner – in this case the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (http://www.gcsp.ch) – as well as leading experts from UN agencies, the International Red Cross, NGOs, academia, military, and private sector in the Lake Geneva region. These all help to serve as principal information resources and contacts for when they return home. The field trips are specially-tailored to provide journalists, many of whom would never the opportunity to report elsewhere in the world, greater insight into these global issues as a means of improving their own on-the-ground local reporting.

The Media21 workshops, which include veteran foreign correspondents, also serve as an extremely useful forum for journalists to share their experiences and reporting challenges. They also enable the key players, such as the international aid agencies – many of whom are finding it increasingly difficult to develop effective public outreach strategies with a fast changing media, to better understand the needs of journalists.