The Institute of National Planning (INP) convened the eighth session of its Young Researchers’ Seminar for the 2024/2025 academic year, titled “Towards a National Policy to Activate Developmental Media’s Role in Egypt.” The session was presented by Ms. Samah Ghalab, Assistant Lecturer at the Center for Social and Cultural Planning, and moderated by Dr. Mai Awad, Lecturer at the Center for Industrial Planning and Development and Coordinator of the Young Researchers’ Seminar.
The event was attended by Prof. Ashraf El-Araby, President of INP, Prof. Khaled Attia, INP Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies and representatives from the National Media Authority (NMA) as well as a distinguished audience of researchers from within and outside INP, along with stakeholders in the field.
The seminar explored the concept of developmental media and its role in:
- Raising public awareness on development issues
- Enhancing civic engagement in development processes
- Shaping behaviors toward sustainable development
- Empowering marginalized groups
- Promoting transparency and accountability
Participants also analyzed the current state of developmental media in Egypt, identifying strengths, weaknesses, and gaps, while reviewing international best practices to extract key lessons.
The session presented a policy proposal to strengthen developmental media in Egypt, focusing on:
- Establishing a governance framework for a national developmental media policy
- Launching specialized training programs for media professionals
- Creating an innovative funding mechanism to support developmental content production
- Updating media laws and policies to align with development goals
- Fostering partnerships between national media channels
- Developing a media observatory for monitoring and evaluation
- Integrating media literacy into educational programs
This seminar underscores INP’s commitment to evidence-based policymaking and its role in advancing media’s contribution to Egypt’s sustainable development agenda. The insights gathered will inform future strategies to harness media as a catalyst for inclusive growth and societal progress.