September 21, 2024

The Arab Network for Early Childhood participated in a workshop entitled “Child-Friendly Media” from September 19 to 21, 2024, in Aqaba, Jordan.

The workshop was organized by the National Council for Family Affairs in Jordan and the Arab Council for Childhood and Development in Egypt in cooperation with Plan International Jordan, the League of Arab States, and the Arab Gulf Program for Development (AGFUND) and ANCED. It was attended by a group of media professionals, journalists and those interested in the relationship between media and early childhood development from Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon.

The workshop emerged from the importance of the relationship between media and early childhood development and the changes in the media and the world of early childhood, which requires a development in the foundations of this relationship. It comes as one of a series of workshops for media professionals held in 14 Arab countries as part of the implementation of the “Arab Child Rights Media Observatory,” a project of the Arab Council for Childhood and Development in cooperation with the League of Arab States and AGFUND.

The “Child-Friendly Media” workshop in Aqaba addressed several issues, including children’s rights, children and digitization, and children and the climate change crisis. Participants also discussed professional principles for Arab media to address early childhood issues and a guide for correcting misconceptions about children in the media.

The workshop included working groups aimed at exchanging ideas and experiences and networking between different media professionals and those interested in early childhood from the participating countries. Participants called for a qualitative development in the media’s handling of child rights issues in line with the tremendous development of digital media, prioritizing child rights issues, especially in emergencies, and providing child-friendly digital Arabic content. Participants also called for integrating digital media education into school curricula to enable children to protect their privacy and help them deal safely with these media platforms.

At the conclusion of the workshop, certificates were distributed to the participants. They emphasized the crucial role of the media in advocating for and supporting children’s rights. They also recognized the need to integrate the media’s role with that of nurturing institutions, particularly the family.