World Summits on Children and Television

The World Summit Movement on Media for Children was conceived by Patricia Edgar, who recognized that television programming for children was changing and under threat in a variety of ways and that international efforts were needed if it was to survive with the values and objectives to which professionals in the industry aspire. In 1993, she began a process of discussions that led to the first World Summit on Television and Children, which was held in Melbourne, Australia, in March 1995 and hosted by the Australian Children's Television Foundation, where Edgar was the founding director.

The objectives of the World Summit on Media for Children were

• To achieve a greater understanding of developments in children's media around the world
• To raise the status of children's programming
• To draw to the attention of key players in broadcasting the importance of issues relating to children
• To agree on a charter of guiding principles in children's media
• To ensure the provision of programs for children will be guaranteed as the communications revolution proceeds
• To assist in the developing world to provide opportunities for quality children's programming in the future

The first summit was attended by 700 people from 72 countries. Both officially and informally, the summit provided an intense, exciting, and fertile environment for the exchange of ideas and information, and it acted as a catalyst for meetings and actions around the world.

The 2nd World Summit on Television for Children was held in London, England, in 1998, and the 3rd World Summit on Media for Children was held in Thessaloniki, Greece, in 2001. A variety of other regional summits and forums, inspired by the World Summits, have also been held since 1995 in the Philippines, Africa, and North America; they all belong to the World Summit movement. At the 3rd World Summit in Thessaloniki in March 2001, the Foundation Board conferred on Brazil the right to hold the 4th World Summit on Media for Children in Rio de Janeiro during 2004. That summit, attended by 3,000 people, was a seminal event for Brazil and Latin America. The 5th World Summit is to be held in South Africa in 2007.

[Page 877]In 1999, a company was established to foster the World Summit movement. The World Summit on Media for Children Foundation is a not-for-profit public company incorporated in Victoria, Australia. Its board of directors includes representatives of the principal host organizations of previous and future World Summits and regional summits. The board is responsible for overseeing the process by which specific countries and organizations are given the right to hold successive World Summits on Media for Children.

The foundation's objectives are to encourage and promote the World Summit, select host organizations for future World Summits, and assist those organizations to raise funds for and prepare for the World Summit. The foundation owns the intellectual property of the World Summit on Media for Children concept.