Raquel Martinez-Gomez, Carlos Alberdi and Mario Lubetkin

Since 2007 the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation(AECID) and the global news agency IPS Inter Press Service have a partnership aimed at putting development higher up media agendas. On 25 March, in Madrid, the partners launched a new publication and presented joint AECID-IPS initiatives for 2010 to a large audience of Spanish civil society, media and cooperation representatives.

The book “Communication and Development – Steps towards Coherence” includes contributions from renowned international analysts like Ignacio Ramonet, Marcial Murciano, Osa Maria Alfaro and Steffen Beitz, among others, reflecting on communication as a tool for promoting development and citizen’s education about values like solidarity. The book was presented by Carlos Alberdi, AECID Cultural and Scientific Relations Director, Mario Lubetkin, IPS Director General and Raquel Martinez-Gomez, the book’s coordinator.

Other initiatives for 2010 On 6 May in Barcelona IPS and AECID will launch the study “Media and International Cooperation” analysing coverage of development cooperation in nine of the main journals in Europe: El Pais, La Vanguardia, ABC, Le Monde, Le Figaro, Liberation, The Times, Daily Telegraph and The Guardian.

The first week of July (5-7), a seminar on “Communication and Development: policies, networks and technologies” is scheduled. The meeting will be a reflection forum to give the opportunity to different actors in the field of communication and development to exchange experiences and create coordination channels to improve communication public policies.

Information in the media in Spanish:

El Mundo (Spain) – La comunicacion, herramienta clave para difundir la promocion del desarrollo

Region Digital (Spain) – La AECID y la Agencia IPS dan a conocer las acciones de comunicacion y desarrollo para 2010

Noticias Positivas (Spain) - “Comunicacion y Desarrollo. Pasos hacia la Coherencia” – Varios Autores