OIC, Baku to host seminar on media

This will be the central message of both the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and Azerbaijan, the nation currently chairing the OIC Conference of Foreign Ministers, at an international conference to be held this week in Baku, Azerbaijan.

"The Conference is an attempt to summarize ideas on how the OIC, the governments of its member states, the public and commercial media and communication and media training institutions, as well as other organizations and individuals, can contribute to improving dialog and mutual understanding among religious and cultural communities," Azerbaijan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the conference's organizer, said in a statement sent to The Jakarta Post.

The conference, entitled "The Role of Media in the Development of Tolerance and Mutual Understanding," will be held in the Azerbaijani capital from April 26-28.

Over 180 people -- mostly media and religious experts, government officials, scholars, noted journalists and NGOs -- from 45 countries, including Indonesia, will gather in Baku to discuss practical steps to be initiated to promote understanding and mutual respect among nations, cultures and confessions through public and private media.

Azerbaijani Ambassador to Indonesia Ibrahim A. Hajiyev said in Jakarta that Indonesia's State Minister for Communications and Information Sofyan A. Djalil and the Foreign Ministry's acting director of information and media Dalton Sembiring would attend the conference.

/www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/