Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
The Collective Voice of The Muslim World
Date: 17/11/2011
Istanbul, Turkey (17 – 18 November 2011) Your Excellencies, President of Radio and Television Supreme Council in Turkey, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen, At the outset, I would like to express my gratitude to the President of Radio and Television Supreme Council in Turkey, Professor Davut Dursun, for inviting me to this inaugural meeting of the Islamic Countries Broadcasting Regulatory Authorities Forum (IRAF). I also would like to extend my thanks to the Turkish government for its support to establish a new regulatory institution that embodies all broadcasting regulatory institutions of the member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). In present day digital and globalized world of information and communication technology, the media have attained unprecedented power and influence. Media can and do indeed play a great role in formulating national and global policies and in shaping societies. This newly acquired power can be both beneficial and detrimental to humankind depending on how they are used. It is important to stress that media and information technology should not be misused or abused by different parties of news-handlers. Freedom of expression is always permitted but with a sense of responsibility. This is a question that calls for the urgent attention of the international community with the aim of reaching a consensus on where to draw the lines. Media and information are inseparable from human existence. Media are among the most effective modern day tools to highlight different issues of concern and project and promote our image. Hence, telling truth lies in the heart of proper media ethical conduct. A responsible media can, therefore, render invaluable services to humankind by highlighting issues of common concern to the international community and boosting the values of hard work, innovation and development in societies. The OIC has worked with steadfastness and commitment to develop media action and our efforts in this regard resulted in a global perception of the OIC as a credible and influential non-state actor at the international scene. In short, it should be the shared responsibility of the international community not to allow the media and communication technology to be derailed from its sacred task of responsible and constructive dissemination of information and news. In this context, the media broadcasting sector in the twenty-first century is gaining special importance and momentum for the far-reaching impact it exerts on peoples and governments. Media in this contemporary era have no boundaries or limitations. Therefore, there has been a feeling that there is a need for the OIC countries to have a unified institution, platform or network of their own which can cater, not only for facilitating potential cooperation opportunities in audio-visual media sector, but also for creating a platform where to discuss general issues pertinent to the broadcasting regulation sector among OIC member states. The need for common standards in broadcasting among the OIC member states is of paramount significance nowadays. In this context, unified standards had already been adopted at the level of the European Union and the Council of Europe through the establishment of "Television without Frontiers Directive" and the "European Transfrontier Television Convention". Consequently, various regulatory authorities have been established among European regulatory authorities such as the "European Platform of Regulatory Authorities" and "Black Sea Broadcasting Regulatory Authorities Forum". The OIC member states also can have a platform similar to other bodies, which can act as a forum for their national broadcasting regulatory authorities. The forum will undoubtedly Endeavour to regulate and coordinate distribution of broadcasting frequencies internally and between OIC countries during big events which are of concern and relevance to all member states. The Forum, once established, can have numerous duties such as: - Promoting dialogue between broadcasting regulatory authorities, - Promoting cooperation and Islamic solidarity among broadcasting regulatory, - Exchanging information, views and experiences about issues of common interest in the broadcasting domain, - Generating discussion on concerns and problems pertaining to broadcasting, - Acting as unified forum for discussion on various audiovisual topics such as cultural diversity, cultural heritage, social cohesion, etc. Ladies and Gentlemen, The OIC believes that it has the capacity to be the umbrella for such institution, which caters for strengthening cohesion among member states' regulatory broadcasting institutions to come under one single roof which is the "Islamic Countries Broadcasting Regulatory Authorities Forum (IRAF)". The Forum will not only contribute immensely to the strengthening of Islamic solidarity and professionalism among the already existing national broadcasting regulatory institutions, but also to help in creation of new national broadcasting regulatory institutions in OIC member states which do not have such bodies. In this context, IRAF would serve as an open platform for discussion on a variety of issues of common interest related to broadcasting regulators and also specified in the objectives and aims of the OIC. The OIC strongly supports creating such platform as it will contribute to activating the role and mechanisms of the media within the framework of the OIC system as stipulated in paragraph VII on Cultural and Information Exchange among Member States of the Ten-Year Program of Action. The Forum will also contribute towards implementation of related resolutions of the Standing Committee for Information and Cultural Affairs (COMIAC) and the Islamic Conference of Information Ministers (ICIM). The 9th Session of the COMIAC, which was held in Dakar, Republic of Senegal in October 2010 welcomed the proposal which was submitted by the Republic of Turkey on the establishment of the OIC Broadcasting Regulatory Authorities Forum (IRAF) to be studied. It is during the Session that the Chairman of COMIAC, H. E. Maitre Abdullai WADE, announced that he is in the process of establishing an international satellite channel, to be the first of its kind in Africa, to broadcast news with special emphasis on OIC countries, in various languages. We strongly appreciate such move and hope that such project would come to fruition. In this connection, in fact, there have been numerous demands and pressure from within the OIC member states and civil society for the OIC to launch a satellite channel under the umbrella of the OIC to cater for broadcasting issues concerning the Muslim world. I hope your deliberations in today's meeting will yield fruitful results including agreement on the exact name, objectives and scope of work of this new form, which we hope that ultimately, can be a tool for change among OIC broadcasting regulatory authorities. The outcome of your meeting, will be presented to the next session of the Islamic Conference of Information Ministers which will be held in Libreville, Gabon in 2012 and to the next session of COMAIC for consideration in aim for IRAF to be accepted as an OIC Affiliate member in the near future. I thank you all and wish you fruitful discussions.
