As the recently-appointed UNESCO Representative and Director of the Caribbean Office, Dr. Anna Paolini settles in, she received a warm welcome from President of the Caribbean Broadcasting Union, Dr. Claire Grant during a courtesy call at the Kingston, Jamaica UNESCO Office.
CBU and UNESCO have co-operated since the establishment of the Union in 1970, and the UN body’s support for PROJECT 1. The partnership continues to be active in 2022 with CBU’s capacity-enhancing work in the UNESCO-sponsored Media and Information Literacy project, as well as bringing to a close its UNESCO-supported project to formulate a Social Media Policy Framework for Caribbean media houses.
The CBU is currently an active member of the Latin America and Caribbean Group of the UNESCO Media and Information Literacy Alliance (MIL Alliance). It participated actively in the recent MIL Week hybrid Conference from October 24 – 28, with three representatives making addresses or participating in panels. CBU member stations are also preparing with their colleagues around the globe to celebrate UNESCO’s World Radio Day, under the theme of Radio and Peace in February 2023.
These projects and other potential collaborations were the subject of lively discussions when Dr. Grant and Dr. Paolini engaged in their first face-to-face meeting. They were supported in that meeting by recent addition to the UNESCO Caribbean Office, Mr. Paul Hector who is the UNESCO focal point with CBU in his post of Advisor for Communication and Information.
Dr Paolini began her leadership of the Caribbean office in July 2022, just one month after Dr. Grant, whose substantive role is Deputy CEO of the RJRGleaner Group, took over the mantle of CBU President and Chair of the Board of Directors.
Currently comprised of broadcasting, public information, media education, media regulation and other sectoral institutions from twenty countries and territories in the Dutch, French & Spanish Caribbean, the CBU has enjoyed production partnerships with UN agencies active in the Caribbean for more than five decades.
