The week-long workshops are addressed to members of parliament, their communication advisers as well as to international and external parliamentary journalists. The training programmes, prepared by Mexican expert, Gerardo Ojeda Castañeda, and the National Distance Education University of Spain (UNED), focus on public service aspects of legislative and parliamentary communication, the specific functions of parliamentary media and the role of members of parliament and journalists in promoting transparency, accountability, citizen participation and contributing to building democracy.

The programme includes video-conferences with several experts from UNED. The aim of the workshops is to clarify key concepts, strengthen journalism ethics and present international best practices in this field.

One of the priorities of UNESCO’s Communication and Information Programme is to assist Member States in creating an environment that fosters freedom of expression and independent, pluralistic media, in order to strengthen democratic processes. This project is implemented within the framework of UNESCO’s action line aiming at fostering editorial independence and quality programming of public service broadcasting (PSB). The concept of PSB includes parliamentary media, considering the important role these media play in democracies, allowing the citizenry to evaluate their representatives and thus promoting good governance and accountability, while ensuring the right to information.