Paris, 1 June 2011 - The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and nine of its Member broadcasters issued a common declaration of support yesterday for Tunisian and Egyptian broadcast media, at a joint conference with UNESCO and France Télévisions in Paris.

The document sets out the EBU's commitment to help newly autonomous Middle East and North Africa (MENA) broadcasters succeed in their public service mission, and to promote the development of independent and pluralistic media.

In the document, the EBU and its Members ARD (Germany); BBC (United Kingdom); DW (Germany), FTV/CFI (France); RAI (Italy); RTVE (Spain); SR (Sweden); ZDF (Germany) and TRT (Turkey) express their belief that:

"Public service broadcasting, together with other new and traditional media, can play an essential role after the democratic awakening that millions of citizens have brought to their countries in Tunisia and Egypt, and in other countries in the whole region."

Yesterday's conference was convened together with international and national institutions, cooperation development agencies and other donors following requests for assistance from broadcasters in the MENA region.

A comprehensive and sustainable assistance plan will now be developed, but the EBU and its Members are already prepared to look at short-term interventions, such as providing expertise for covering the upcoming elections, or the rental of transmission equipment.

Longer term, the EBU and any of its Members wanting to be involved, along with their MENA partners, will work on media reform, including law and regulation; institutional restructuring and administration; enhancing professionalism in news reporting; scheduling and format development and original fiction and entertainment.

Other projects will seek the implementation of professional codes of conduct and corporate culture, new mechanisms of public participation and accountability through governance mechanisms.

Working closely with UNESCO and the Paris conference partners, and subject to funding, the EBU will at the request of its Members facilitate a transparent exchange of information among participants to facilitate accountability and visibility of the joint undertaking towards third-party donors and the general public.

The EBU will also lead a common advocacy effort at the level of international institutions and, in some cases, deploy assistance directly.

Click here for the full text of the declaration.