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'Children and young people make up a great part of the population in most parts of the world. Whereas the number of young people in the wealthy countries of the world today will decline in the coming decade, the number of young people in developing countries is steadily increasing. In these countries young people will make up half the population in the year 2000'.1 This fact alone makes it all the more important for governments and NGOs to take seriously the influence exerted by media content- especially violence and pornography, but also intolerance and xenophobia - on young minds. During the past two years, concerned people at all levels in African and Asian countries have urged measures to 'encourage the development of appropriate guidelines for the protection of the child from information and material injurious to his or her well-being' (Article 17 of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child).
The SADC Children's Broadcasting Charter (1996)
We, the people of the Southern African Developing Countries of Angola, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland and Zambia, affirm and accept the internationally adopted Children's Television Charter which was accepted in Munich on 29 May 1995.
Without detracting from the International Children's Charter, we further adopt, in line with the said Charter, our SADC Children's Broadcasting Charter, which takes into account the needs and wants of children in our region.
Children should have programmes of high quality, made specially for them and which do not exploit them. These pro-grammes, in addition to entertaining, should allow children to develop physically, mentally and socially to their fullest potential. Whilst endorsing the child's right to freedom of expression, thought, conscience and religion, and protection against economic exploitation, children must be assured access to programmes and production of programmes through multi-media access centres.
Children should hear, see and express themselves, their culture, their language and their life experiences, through the electronic media which affirm their sense of self, community and place.
As part of the child's right to education and development, children's programmes should promote an awareness and appreciation of other cultures in parallel with the child's own cultural background. To facilitate this there should be an ongoing research into the child audience, including the child's needs and wants which, as a matter of priority, should be implemented.
Children's programmes should be wide-ranging in genre and content, but should not include gratuitous scenes of violence and sex.
Children's programmes should be aired in regular slots at times when children are available to listen and view, and/or be distributed via other widely accessible media or technologies.
Sufficient resources, technical, financial and other must be made available to make these programmes to the highest possible standards, and in order to achieve quality, codes and standards for children's broadcasting must be formulated and developed through a diverse range of groupings.
In compliance with the UN policy of co-operation between states in the international community, and especially in the SADC countries, the Children's Broadcasting Charter recognises all international covenants, conventions, treaties, charters and agreements adopted by all international organisations including the UN and the OAU affecting children, but with particular reference to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The SADC Children's Broadcasting Charter was adopted by the assembly of the Southern African Developing Countries' Summit on Children and Broadcasting, held in Johannes-burg, South Africa, in May 1996.
Asian Declaration on Child Rights and the Media (1996)
We, Ministers of Information, Education, Welfare and Social Development from 27 countries of Asia, Senior Officials representing the various government, executives, researchers, practitioners and professionals from various streams of media, non-governmental organisations, advocacy groups and concerned individuals gathered for the Asian Summit on Child Rights and the Media resolve that all media for or about children should:
protect and respect the diverse cultural heritage of Asian societies;
be accessible to all children;
provide for the girl child and counter the widespread discrimination against the girl child;
provide for children with special needs, children in especially difficult circumstances, children of indigenous communities and children in situation of armed conflict;
adopt policies that are consistent with the principles of non-discrimination and the best interests of all children;
Resolve also that all media about children should:
raise awareness and mobilise all sectors of society to ensure the survival, development, protection and participation of all children;
address all forms of economic, commercial and sexual exploitation and abuse of children in the region and ensure that such efforts do not violate their rights, particularly their right to privacy;
protect children from material which glorifies violence, sex, horror and conflict;
promote positive values and not perpetuate discrimination and stereotypes.
Resolve further that all media for children should:
be of high quality, made especially for them, and do not exploit them;
support their physical, mental, social, moral and spiritual development;
enable children to hear, see and express themselves, their culture, their languages and their life experiences through media which affirm their sense of self and community, while promoting an awareness and appreciation of other cultures;
be wide-ranging in genre and content, but not include gratuitous scenes of violence and sex; and, be accessible to them at times when they need and can use it.
Resolve, finally, that governments, media, NGOs, the private sector and other local, regional and holding agencies should:
provide media education for children and families to develop their critical understanding of all media forms;
provide opportunities for children in creating media and to express themselves on a wide range of issues relating to their needs and interests;
provide sufficient funds and resources to ensure access to and enable the production and dissemination of high quality materials for and about children as well as capacity building for media practitioners so that they could perform their role as developmental agencies;
promote regional and international co-operation through the sharing of research, expertise and exchange of materials and programmes, networking among government, non-government organisations, media organisations, educational institutions, advocacy groups and other agencies;
provide incentives for excellence through awards at regional and national levels.
The Asian Summit on Child Rights and the Media, was held in Manila, Philippines in July 1996.
Africa Charter on Children's Broadcasting (1997)
We, the delegates of the Africa Summit on Children's Broadcasting, Accra Ghana 8-12 October 1997, affirm and accept the internationally adopted Children's Television Charter that was accepted in Munich on 29 May 1995. In addition, we amend the SADC Children's Broadcasting Charter (June 1996) to read as the Africa Charter on Children's Broadcasting.
Without detracting from the International Children's Television Charter, we further adopt in line with the said Charter and in the spirit of the said Charter, our Africa Charter on Children's Broadcasting, which takes into consideration the needs and wants of children in our region.
1. Children should have programmes of high quality, made specifically for them and which do not exploit them at any stage of the production process. These programmes, in addition to entertaining, should allow children to develop physically, mentally and socially to their fullest potential.
2. Whilst recognising that children's broadcasting will be funded through various mechanisms including advertising, sponsorship and merchandising, children should be protected from commercial exploitation.
3. Whilst endorsing the child's right to freedom of expression, thought, conscience and religion, and protection against economic exploitation, children must be ensured equitable access to programmes, and whenever possible, to the production of programmes.
4. Children should hear, see and express themselves, their culture, their language and their life experiences, through the electronic media which affirm their sense of self, community and place.
5. Children's programmes should create opportunities for learning and empowerment to promote and support the child's right to education and development. Children's programmes should promote an awareness and appreciation of other cultures in parallel with the child's own cultural background. To facilitate this there should be ongoing research into the child audience, including the child's needs and wants.
6. Children's programmes should be wide ranging in genre and content, but should not include gratuitous scenes, and sounds of violence and sex through any audio or visual medium.
7. Children's programmes should be aired in regular time slots at times when children are available to listen and view, and/ or be distributed via other widely accessible media or technologies.
8. Sufficient resources, technical, financial and other, must be made available to make these programmes to the highest possible standards, and in order to achieve quality, setting codes and standards for children's broadcasting must be formulated and developed through a diverse range of groupings.
9. In compliance with the UN policy of co-operation between states in the international community, the Africa Charter on Children's Broadcasting recognises all international covenants, conventions, treaties, charters and agreements adopted by all international organisations including the OAU and the UN affecting children, but with particular reference to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The first All Africa Summit on Children's Broadcasting was held in Accra, Ghana, October 1997.
1 From the Foreword to Children and Media Violence, edited by Ulla Carlsson and Cecilia von Feilitzen. Yearbook from the UNESCO International Clearinghouse on Children and Violence on the Screen 1998. (Nordicom, Göteborg University, Box 713, SE 405 30 Göteborg, Sweden.)
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