IC/IBRAF-2/2012/REP

REPORT OF THE SECOND MEETİNG OF THE

OIC BROADCASTING REGULATORY AUTHORITIES FORUM (IBRAF)

Jeddah, 2-3 October 2012

1-The Second Meeting of the OIC Broadcasting Regulatory Authorities Forum (IBRAF) was held at the headquarters of the OIC General Secretariat on 2-3 October 2012. The meeting was kindly hosted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia represented by the Ministry of Information and Culture.

2-Seventeen (17) Member States participated in the meeting (Annex 1).

3-The Meeting was opened with recitation of verses from the Holy Quran.

4-The representative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, host of the meeting, Dr. Riyad Kamal Najm, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Information and Culture and member of the Supervisory and Follow-up Committee of the 9th Session of the Islamic Conference of Information Ministers, delivered a statement in which he welcomed the participants to the country of the Two Holy Mosques, stating that he was honored by their presence in the Kingdom to participate in the meeting.

Stressing the importance of establishing the OIC Broadcasting Regulatory Authorities (IBRAF), he recalled the stages IBRAF has gone through for its establishment including the Republic of Turkey’s submission of a proposal to the Standing Committee on Information and Cultural Affairs (COMIAC) in its 9th Session held on 11-13 October 2010 in Dakar, Republic of Senegal; the 1st Meeting of IBRAF held on 17-18 November 2011 in Istanbul in Turkey, and the adoption of a resolution to establish IBRAF by the 9th Session of the Islamic Conference of Information Ministers held in Libreville, Gabon, on 19 - 20 April 2012 (Resolution 11/9-INF).

5-Dr. Isam Salim Shanti, Director of the Information Department, delivered a statement on behalf of the OIC Secretary General, Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu. He started by welcoming the representatives of Member States taking part in the meeting. He thanked the Republic of Turkey for hosting the first meeting and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for hosting the second meeting of IBRAF at the OIC headquarters in Jeddah. Dr. Shanti reviewed the stages IBRAF has gone through over the last two years, including the 9th ICIM’s approval to establish the Forum. He insisted that IBRAF will not serve only as an open forum for the discussion of a wide array of issues relevant to broadcasting regulatory authorities in OIC Member Countries, but will also serve the objectives for which the OIC was established and will promote cooperation with similar international fora such as the European Platform of Regulatory Authorities (EPRA), The Mediterranean Network of Media Regulatory Authorities (NMRA), Black Sea Broadcasting Regulatory Authorities Forum (BRAF), among others. He also invited all Member States to participate in this Forum and to support it effectively, particularly in the light of the brutal media assault on Islam and its holy symbols.

6-The representative of the Republic of Turkey and member of the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTUK), Dr. Hamit Ersoy delivered a comprehensive statement in whichhe expressed gratitude to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for hosting the 2nd Meeting, and to the OIC General Secretariat, represented by its Information Department, for the outstanding preparation to the Meeting and its communication and coordination with different parties to ensure its success. He then gave a presentation on the development of audiovisual media and broadcasting regulation in the world, inviting all States to benefit from regional and international experiences in the field, and particularly Turkey’s important experience, represented by the Radio and Television Supreme Council in Turkey. Dr. Ersoy gave a detailed presentation on the Turkish experience in this regard.

7-The Head of the Delegation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Dr. Kamal Riyad Najm, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Information and Culture, was elected Chairman of the Meeting for the coming period.

8-Dr. Hamit Ersoy, the representative of the Republic of Turkey and member of the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTUK); and Salem Mashkour, member of the Board of Trustees of the Iraqi Information and Communications Authority as representative of the host of the next IBRAF annual meeting, were elected as vice-chairpersons of IBRAF for the coming period.

9-The Meeting adopted its Agenda (document no. OIC/IBRAF-2/2012/AGENDA) and Work Program (Document No. OIC/IBRAF-2-2012/W.P) (Annex 2).

10-The heads of the delegations of Iraq, Bangladesh, the Sudan, Pakistan, and Afghanistan gave brief but important presentations on their national experiences in the field of audiovisual media and broadcasting regulation.

11-The participants underscored the need to attach importance to the provision of high-quality and useful content to be used in advanced communication technologies.

12-The participants agreed to use the word ‘broadcasting’ which refers to audiovisual media content as equivalent to the Arabic word "بث" .

13-The participants adopted the following name for the Forum: OIC Broadcasting Regulatory Authorities Forum (IBRAF), and its Arabic equivalent:

"منتدى سلطات تنظيم البث في الدول الأعضاء في منظمة التعاون الإسلامي".

14-The Meeting emphasized that “Founding Members” refers to all regulatory authorities which took part in the 1st IBRAF Meeting held on 17 and 18 November 2011 inIstanbul,as well asthose which participated in the 2nd IBRAF Meeting held at the OIC Headquarters in Jeddah on 2-3 October 2012.

15-The Meeting decided to circulate the Charterof IBRAF to all founding regulatory authorities. A regulatory authority shall be considered as founding member of IBRAF unless notified otherwise by the Authority concerned not later than 31 December 2012.

16-The Meeting decided to circulate the report of the present meeting and IBRAF Charter to all OIC Member States for information.

17-The Meeting decided that IBRAF Permanent Secretariat shall be headquartered in Ankara, Republic of Turkey.

18-The participants agreed that the OIC General Secretariat will have a role according to the nature of IBRAF for the OICand will be invited permanently to all annual conferences of IBRAF.

19-The participants stated that, IBRAF mayrequest the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers to grant it the status of ‘OIC Affiliated Institution’.

20-The participants examined IBRAF’s Draft Charter submitted to the Meeting and adopted the Charter as included in document no. OIC/IBRAF-2/2012/D.CHARTER (Annex 3).

21-The Meeting decided to submit the Charter of IBRAF it adopted to the 10th Session of the Islamic Conference of Information Ministers for information.

22-The participants welcomed the offer of the Head of the Delegation of Iraq that his country, represented by the Information and Communication Regulatory Authority, host IBRAF’s next meeting in Baghdad in the last quarter of 2013. He stated that his country will cover boarding and lodging expenses of the participants.

Jeddah on 3 October 2012

Rep.IBRAF-15-10-2012

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