MALTA’S PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE TO THE
EUROPEAN UNION INAUGURATES MEDIP TRANSNATIONAL
PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION IN BRUSSELS
Malta’s Permanent Representative to the
European Union, Ambassador Richard Cachia
Caruana, yesterday inaugurated the Media
Engagement in Development Issues and Promotion (MEDIP)
trans-national photographic exhibition at the
EuropeAid Cooperation Office in Brussels.
The project MEDIP is run by six European NGOs
and is an awareness campaign on development
issues through the media. The project climaxes
with the photo exhibition.
Six NGOs are partners in this project: SOS
Malta, the Foundation for Development of
Democratic Rights (Hungary), the Jaan Tonisson
Institute (Estonia), the European Institute of
Cyprus, Slovene Philanthropy, and the Civil
Society Development Foundation (Romania).
During the exhibition, Ambassador Cachia
Caruana, Permanent Representative of Malta to
the European Union, presented a commemorative
trophy to the winner of the photographic
exhibition. The trophy was collected by Ms
Iuliana Rada on behalf of the winning
photographer, Mr Silviu Pavel (Romania).
The photographic exhibition on development is
being organised by the NGO SOS Malta together
with DG AIDCO (EuropeAid Cooperation Office).
SOS Malta President Claudia Taylor-East was
accompanied by Monique Falzon, Project Officer
and Susan Ellul, Project Assistant, SOS Malta.
... / speech attached
DOI – 26.11.2009
Speech by Ambassador Richard Cachia
Caruana, Permanent Representative of Malta to
the European Union, at the inauguration of the
Media Engagement in Development Issues and
Promotion (MEDIP) transnational photographic
exhibition - European Commission, EuropeAid
Cooperation Office, Brussels - 25 November 2009
Ladies and Gentlemen
This evening’s event is the culmination of
the Media Engagement in Development Issues and
Promotion project, known as MEDIP. Claudia
Taylor East has taken us though the project’s
development and it is clear, also from the power
and quality of the photographs that we see
around us, that it has been a major success. As
we await the announcement of the winning
photograph, I would like to share a few thoughts
regarding the MEDIP experience and the positive
results that can be achieved when
non-governmental organisations from different
Member States work together with a single aim.
At the United Nations Millennium Summit in
2000, one hundred and eighty-nine countries
pledged to work together towards a more just and
humane world. This ideal was articulated in the
form of eight fundamental goals, which became
known as the Millennium Development Goals. These
countries also signed the Millennium Declaration
promising to 'free men, women and children from
the dehumanising conditions of extreme poverty’.
However, these brave intentions cannot be
achieved by governments alone – the support of
the public in general is needed if we hope to
translate these goals into tangible results, and
they therefore need to be communicated to as
wide an audience as possible.
We all know the average attention span of
today’s global media. It is a challenge for
these initiatives to get decent media exposure.
Indeed, this was evident from a Eurobarometer
study on the ‘Citizens of the new EU Member
States and Development Aid', published in
September 2007, which indicated that media
coverage about the Millennium Development Goals
has been low within the participating countries
and that public awareness about development
issues in general was also rather poor.
This is what the MEDIP initiative aimed to
change though an intensive programme to raise
media awareness on development issues and the
Millennium Development Goals. It was originated
and implemented by six non-governmental
organisations, namely SOS Malta from Malta, the
Foundation for Development of Democratic Rights
from Hungary, the Jaan Tonisson Institute from
Estonia, the European Institute of Cyprus,
Slovene Philanthropy, and the Civil Society
Development Foundation from Romania.
I have no doubt that the fact that this
initiative originated from these organisations,
each of which boast a record of impressive
achievements in the field of international
development, gave it credence and made the media
take notice. These particular non-governmental
organisations have, over the years, received the
support of their respective governments while
the MEDIP project itself received the financial
support of the European Commission.
The EU has long believed that civil society
organisations lie at the heart of an open and
active society and, thanks to forward-looking
and socially-oriented government policies, have
helped empower citizens in an ever more dynamic
and socially-progressive Europe. I am happy to
say that representatives of civil society, like
the ones involved in this project, also
represent Europe’s efforts to move beyond
European development and to take on a more
decisive role in matters related to global
development.
I am sure that the MEDIP programme of highly
targeted media awareness training on development
issues and the Millennium Development Goals will
lead to greater media interest on these issues
thus allowing them to be communicated to a wider
audience. This aim becomes ever more vital as we
move closer towards the 2015 deadline for
achieving the Millennium Development Goals. As
the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon recently
urged: “Time is short. We must seize this
historic moment to act responsibly and
decisively for the common good.”
Ladies and Gentlemen
With this deadline in mind, we can better
appreciate the value of events such as this
exhibition, where strong images of poverty and
injustice bring home the need and the urgency
for all the participating countries to move
forward on the Development Goals. Allow me
therefore to conclude by thanking the six MEDIP
organisations for the initiative as well as for
their commitment and dedication.
