Tunis: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) on Friday launched a guide to good practice for media coverage of disability issues, which was drawn up jointly with its national and international partners, as well as a national coalition of media organisations and institutions.
Speaking at a press conference held in Tunis, coordinator of media and communication programmes at the UNESCO office in Tunisia Néji Bghouri said that the guide is intended to harmonise concepts related to disability issues in order to adopt best practice for media coverage of this theme.
The guide was drawn up in coordination with the Press and Information Science Institute, the High Independent Authority for Audiovisual Communication (HAICA), the National Union of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT), IBSAR and the Tunisian Organisation for the Defence of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
‘This reference manual is based on the principle of human rights with regard to the media approach to disabil
ity, and underlines the important role of the media in ensuring that people with disabilities have access to information,’ Bghouri pointed out.
The media should deal with disability issues in accordance with ethical and professional standards, using sign languages and accompanying voice recordings with written text, while avoiding the use of meaningless terms such as ‘special needs’ and ‘disabled,’ he considered.
Taking the floor, expert in human and social sciences at the UNESCO-Maghreb Office Ines Khelif indicated that the UNESCO and its partners have launched on July 19 a national coalition to create inclusive media accessible to people with disabilities in Tunisia, bringing together research and training establishments and organisations for the defence of the rights of people with disabilities, international organisations, the media and MPs.
‘Among the main objectives of this national coalition are the creation of a commission to monitor media coverage of disability issues, the organisation of regular
support campaigns and the launch of an annual prize to promote high-quality journalistic work,’ she specified.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse