Oman Observer

24th January, 2011

26th of January of 2010 – Shabiba

E-Shabiba 29th of January, 2010

Partnership for society symposium to highlight investigative role of media Oman Observer Wed, 02 February 2011

By Maryam Khalfan –

MUSCAT —- Sayyid Hilal bin Badr al Busaidy, Wali of Sohar, will preside at a symposium on Partnerships for

Society: Budget, People and Media at Sohar University today. The symposium will attract the participation of

members of the Majlis Ash’shura, media, civil society, private sector, students and officials of the university.

The symposium, is aimed at highlighting the analytical and investigative role of the media in raising societal

awareness and their involvement in public life in issues such as the state budget and the Five-Year-Plan,

which will be conducted as case studies.

The event is also designed to facilitate for the formation of partnership between the media, the civil society

and members of Majlis Ash’shura to institutionalise and strengthen popular participation processes.

The symposium has been organised as part of Tawasul’s ventures on Media and Development Projects to

spotlight on the human rights perspectives. The project was formed with the objective of sensitising the

media in issues related to the principles of human rights, values and its processes and to instill the aspects

of human resources in the mind of the populace and, to enhance responsibility and accountability.

The project is also aimed at enabling the media to identify, determine and to analyse human resource

dimensions in the addressed topics of discussions and to figure out appropriate approaches to streamline

human resource issues in their analysis and the subject of coverage.

On agenda of an interactive discussion will include a dialogue on an overview and significance of the project,

budget history and planning performance in the sultanate, budget preparation and review: an avenue for

active partnership between representative bodies, media and the civil society.

The opening session will be presented Dr Mehdi Ahmed Jaafar, Founding member and Vice-Chairman of the

Environment Society of Oman and a member of Tawasul’s Advisory Board, who will describe on the project

and its objectives to sensitise the media to human development principles, values and processes.