ACCESS TO INFORMATION & SDGS – A SIMULATION GAME PRODUCED BY

WHAT IS THE GFMD The Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD) is an international membership network of media assistance groups that highlights the importance of independent, pluralistic and sustainable media in social and economic development. GFMD members share a common goal: to foster free, professional and pluralistic media, leading to more open societies, greater transparency and enhanced freedom of expression.GFMD members

The NEW UN SDGs In September 2015, the 193 member states of the United Nations unanimously adopted the New Sustainable Development Goals, in including a pledge to 'ensure public access to information.' In September 2016, the UN will select official indicators for measuring progress towards these new global goals. The promise by all national governments to guarantee public access to information is potentially historic, but only if media and civil society work actively to help achieve this goal and to monitor it. It is a formidable opportunity of progress for freedom of expression, access to information and the positive role of media in societies. Who will engage at the national level and what are the most effective ways to make progress on SDG 16.10?

TARGET: SDG16.10 Ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms, in accordance with national legislation and international agreements Recommended UN indicators for SDG16-10: 1) “Number of verified cases of killing, kidnapping, enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention and torture of journalists, associated media personnel, trade unionists and human rights advocates in the previous 12 months” [Source: UNESCO and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights] 2) “Number of countries that adopt and implement constitutional, statutory and/or policy guarantees for public access to information” [Source: UNESCO]

SERIOUS GAME “Serious games are simulations of real-world events or processes designed for the purpose of solving a problem. Although serious games can be entertaining, their main purpose is to train or educate users, (…). Serious game will sometimes deliberately sacrifice fun and entertainment in order to achieve a desired progress by the player. Serious games are not a game genre but a category of games with different purposes. This category includes some educational games and advergames, political games, or evangelical games.”educational gamesadvergames (Wikipedia English)

WHY THIS GAME To raise awareness on SDGs and their relation to media and access to information To foresee dynamics at country level of implementation of SDGs To experiment a reality-check on the challenges of partnerships between donors, national authorities, media Having fun on a topic makes it worth remembering it (it’s fun for organisers too :) To explore blockages and incentives for national authorities to invest on public access to information in country Feedback on the game will help refine it for future use in training situation

OBJECTIVE OF THE GAME FOR PLAYERS Advancing their agendas with the maximum interaction between players while serving the public interest. The interactions must include how they will use or ignore SDGs and the access to information target (SDG16.10).

RULES Each player picks a role randomly International agency, media, NGO, private company or national authorities. Each has a hidden agenda to advance. Players read the documents (10 min) and receive an indication of a “situation” from the animator. Each table “plays” for 45 to 75 minutes by rounds of 15 min (3 rounds minimum). At each round, players have respectively 2 minutes to say what they do to address the situation. A group discussion follows for 5 minutes. The animator sums up then announces how much time has passed and what has happened in the meanwhile. A new round starts. At the end, the animator or the rapporteur shares the highlights of what happened at the table with the room.

RECOMMENDATIONS Play it «real » Ask for clarifications to your animator Beware of the time Have fun !

OPEN DISCUSSION Which table “wins in your view & who has the best result in public interest ? What is the take-away of the game ? Would you use this game, in which circumstances What worked and didn’t ? What would you change ? Did you guess which country it could be ?

THANK YOU FOR PLAYING WITH US Partners and supporters : Bill Orme, GFMD Article 19 GIZ, Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum, Deutsche Welle Akademie, OSF, Free Press Unlimited, BBCMedia Action, International Media Support, UNESCO

LEARN MORE, SPREAD THE WORD Learn more: #mediadev #post2015 #SDGs Contact us: Caroline Giraud Author & GFMD Programmes and Policy Manager Bill Orme GFMD Representative to the UN Ayman Mhanna, GFMD Executive Director