Over 1 billion people around the world live in extreme poverty; 70 percent live in sub-Saharan Africa on less than $1 a day.

More than 17 million Africans have died from AIDS, and an additional 25 million are infected with the HIV virus; approximately 1.9 million are children.

Every day over 25,000 Africans die because they suffer from extreme poverty or preventable diseases.

Why are stories of the suffering of Africans and citizens of least developed countries not on the front page of daily newspapers? Why is news of thousands dying of preventable diseases not headline news on television and radio?

Today there is an urgent and immediate need for the media to take the lead in making their audiences aware of the constraints of the world’s poorest countries – the Least Developed Countries, the Landlocked Developed Countries and the Small Island Developing States – some of these countries are on the verge of extinction.

What is MediaGlobal?

MediaGlobal was launched in January 2006 as an independent media organization designed to create awareness in the global media of the suffering of the world’s poorest countries in Africa and Asia on issues of economic development, global health, food security and the impact of climate change on developing countries. In October of the same year, MediaGlobal and the United Nations launched the Global Media Compact. Before long United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) became a signatory of the Global Media Compact, an initiative aimed at making the global media aware of the constraints of developing countries.

MediaGlobal distributes news stories through a powerful database of more than 30,000 active correspondents in the global media, policymakers in donor countries, non-governmental organizations, private sector and civil society contacts and key personnel in the United Nations Secretariat, its agencies and managers in the field worldwide.

A small sampling of the media list includes: Media in donor countries, media in the least developed countries in Africa, all international Washington D. C.-based media bureaus, HIV/AIDS Communicators, African journalists writing on development issues, UN Communicators working with the media, media officers at the World Bank and other financial institutions, all Ambassadors and senior diplomats at Permanent Missions to the UN, select corporate executives in the private sector, to name a few.

Media goes hand in hand with human and economic development for the role it can play in informing the masses, holding officials accountable, and bringing traditionally marginalized voices into the public dialogue. According to IREX’s Media Sustainability Index, the state of the press in the majority of least developed countries in Africa ranks between 1 (unsustainable) and 3 (near sustainability).

In committed partnership with the United Nations and the United Nations Development Programme, including its Special Unit for South-South Cooperation, MediaGlobal directs global media coverage of the developing countries by reporting on stories which highlight the impact of current events on marginalized sectors of the developing world and which humanize their daily struggles as they raise families, attend school, or run businesses, as well as to train a new generation of journalists to effectively report on development-related issues.

MediaGlobal’s Young Writers Initiative

MediaGlobal has been operating the Young Writers Initiative out of the United Nations since 2006. Under this initiative young correspondents receive United Nations press credentials to attend meetings and press conferences and disseminate interview-based articles each week to the global media and contribute to a weekly newsletter, This Week In Development.

Based at the United Nations Secretariat, MediaGlobal’s young writers work closely with the accredited media to the United Nations, media in donor countries, civil society, the private sector and most prominent international bodies, including senior officials at the United Nations and its agencies, with an urgent need to focus on the constraints of vulnerable and poor countries.

MediaGlobal offers a rigorous training programme for young correspondents to ensure that after a six-month full-time commitment to MediaGlobal, they have a thorough understanding of the millennium development goals (MDGs), journalism ethics, and the business models that are needed to sustain careers in independent media and in non-profit agencies.

Current issues and trends in journalism are emerging and innovative multimedia platforms are opening up doorways in reaching an ever-growing audience, especially in developing countries where technology is sweeping countries.

MediaGlobal believes that young writers should not simply learn to write, but be able to think, analyze, assimilate and express their views with compassion and concern for the constraints of the least developed countries. It is this humanistic approach to writing that we strive to inculcate.

As a result MediaGlobal’s young writers are able to view happenings in developing countries and emerging democracies with a deeper sense of understanding and an ability to deal with complex issues.

Funding

The activities of MediaGlobal are funded by voluntary contributions, both financial and in-kind. As a nonprofit organization, MediaGlobal can receive contributions from individuals, foundations, and United Nations member states. MediaGlobal is a 501 © 3 organization and is tax-exempt to the extent of the law.

MediaGlobal’s Target Audience:

MediaGlobal communicates extensively with the global media, decision-makers in relief agencies, host and donor governments, human rights organizations, humanitarian advocacy groups, academic institutions, and all member states at the United Nations. At the same time, MediaGlobal maintains a database of over 30,000-targeted global media outlets. We reach the officials who decide the course of official development assistance to poor countries and the media in donor countries who influence decision-makers. Areas covered by MediaGlobal include: the United States, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and all of Africa.

Independent Media

The MediaGlobal news service is editorially independent. Its reports do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations and its various agencies, or governments of countries.

MediaGlobal’s activities are aimed at the media: print, radio, television, and the Internet. Additionally, the message of vulnerable countries reach policy makers, teachers, students, non-governmental organizations, and civil society leaders, as well as key personnel in United Nations agencies, both at headquarters in New York and in field offices. Media delivery modes include print materials, newswire dissemination, video, TV, two-way video-conferencing, CD-ROM, interactive multimedia, e-learning and an increasing use of the Internet to sustain consistent communication channels.

MediaGlobal’s news service is the lifeline of the global information system serving thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and online customers with coverage in areas of development.

With more than 35 years of experience in communications and over twelve years of extensive work in the field of development, serving the interests of the most vulnerable members of the international community, MediaGlobal’s team harnesses the full-range of multimedia services to help poor countries communicate their experiences on the road to alleviation of poverty, disease, hunger and the impact of climate change.