The International Conference Media and Information Literacy for Knowledge Societies organized in Moscow is held under the framework of the Russian chairmanship in the Information for All Programme (IFAP) Intergovernmental Council and is Russia’s contribution to the implementation of the Programme’s Strategic Plan.

Media and information literacy is directly linked to UNESCO’s mandate and strategic objectives oriented to build inclusive knowledge societies. The Information Literacy development is one of the priorities of the Strategic Plan of the UNESCO Information for All Programme (IFAP). Moreover, MIL is also essential in reaching Dakar Education for All (EFA) and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). MIL contributes to the implementation of the WSIS Declaration of Principles and Plan of Action (2003 and 2005) and was also articulated in the Grünwald (1982), Alexandria (2005) and Fez (2010) Declarations.

The Conference objectives are:

• To raise public awareness of the significance, scale and topicality of the tasks of media and information literacy advocacy among information, media and educational professionals, government executives and public at large;
• To outline policies and professional strategies for the advocacy of media and information literacy and to identify the key existing challenges;
• To contribute to improving international, regional and national response to MIL issues, particularly on policies and legislation, development of tools required for the assessment and building MIL competencies, MIL research and other aspects in the field of media and information literacy promotion;
• To identify and promote best practices in the above fields and strengthen international cooperation among various stakeholders.

The Conference will gather about 120 participants working in the field of information, communication, media, ICTs literacy, IT&T industry, representatives of the public institutions, NGOs, and other.