Consultation & adoption

This page records the development of the principles, their adoption, and milestones in their implementation.

The OECD Development Co-operation Principles for Relevant and Effective Support to Media and the Information Environment are a product of the Development Assistance Committee’s Network on Governance.

Why were the principles developed?

The 2014 OECD Principles on media assistance were no longer fit for purpose given:

How were the principles developed?

The Principles are the successful culmination of more than two years of consultations and advocacy led by GFMD and the Centre for International Media Assistance (CIMA) in collaboration with:

This exciting milestone follows two years of consultations among more than 200 representatives from bilateral donor agencies, implementing organisations, civil society representatives, and media development experts.

The full timeline for the development and adoption of the principles is included below.

2025

2024

May 2024 - GFMD regional meetings for the wider European region and Latin America and Caribbean focused on how to disseminate and implement the principles.

"A big thing just happened. The West’s major donor countries adopted principles for more and better support to journalism in developing countries.

In 2026, they will review any progress made.

After two years, civil society action by the Global Forum for Media Development built enough momentum to get 32 donor country reps to agree the principles. Kudos! It happened on 22 March at the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Fifty member countries of the Media Freedom Coalition have also since signed up.

The OECD principles follow research showing that total annual donor funding allocated to media and the information environment is only 0.5% of the total Official Development Assistance.

Germany and the UK claim higher fractions, but this is because they brazenly include as “development spending” allocations to the Deutsche Welle and the BBC World Service.

What actually goes towards media in developing countries is only 8% of the 0.5%. In a massive understatement, the OECD recognises that this is “insufficient to address the challenges...”.

Exactly. Where’s the logic of putting aid into health or schooling, yet ignoring support for journalism to monitor accountability for what happens on the ground?

The current proportions in funding need radical revision – especially when media is in crisis, and when developing countries have not just information deficits, but are facing floods of disinformation." - LinkedIn post by Guy Berger, Former Director for Freedom of Expression and Media Development at UNESCO

2023

2022

2021

Last updated

Was this helpful?