The Global Media and Information Literacy Week 2019 Feature Conference was held by UNESCO in collaboration with University of Gothenburg, the Swedish National Commission for UNESCO, and the Region Västra Götaland in Gothenburg, Sweden, on September 24–25, 2019. Global Media and Information Literacy (MIL) Week, commemorated annually, is a major occasion for stakeholders to review and celebrate the progress achieved towards “MIL for All”. This year edition of the major annual event on MIL focused on the cities and citizens in the digital age under the theme “MIL Citizens: Informed, Engaged, Empowered”.
The conference was officially opened by Ms Anna Ekstrom, Minister of Education, Sweden who noted that MIL is necessary ingredient for civic engagement, freedom of Information, and pluralistic media. Mr Moez Chakchouk, Assistant Director-General, Communication and Information Sector at UNESCO gave his opening remarks by stating that the demand for MIL has grown considerably, especially with the rise of disinformation and hate speech in recent years. Ms Annika Tännström, President of the Regional Council of Region Västra Götaland welcomed the participants and stated that as young people and adults are continuously exposed to hate speech and threats, MIL will help to strengthen action for democratic right all over the world.
The opening session was followed by GAPMIL Media Information Literacy Awards in which four organisations and persons from Palestine, USA, Russia and Spain were feted for their exemplary work within the MIL field. The conference agenda included five plenary sessions:
- MIL for Sustainable Development Goals and Peace
- MIL and Freedom of Expression: Dialogue, and Engagement
- MIL to Tackle Disinformation and Propaganda
- MIL Futures: Innovation, Good Practices, Challenges
- GAPMIL/MILID Session
Ms Tatiana Murovana, UNESCO IITE programme specialist, made the presentation “Teachers as Changemakers: Another Attempt to Unleash the Potential of MIL” within one of four parallel sessions, aimed to answer the question of how to educate the educators on MIL.
The conference concluded with the Global MIL Week Youth Forum, which took place on 26 September in Gothenburg.
More information about the Global Media and Information Literacy Week 2019 Feature Conference is available at the official website.