The sixth annual session of the South Asian Free Media Association will begin here on Saturday (today). Pakistan would be represented in the conference by a 34-member delegation led by Imtiaz Alam, Secretary General of the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA).
More than 225 South Asian media persons from electronic and print media will be attending this annual event, the titled "Media, Peace and Poverty Alleviation," the conference will discuss how to bring plight of the poor people in the region into light.
"The conference could not have come at a more appropriate time when the region is shattered by disaster natural as well as man made," said National Conference Organiser, N M Ameen.
It is more appropriate to Sri Lanka where 15 of its 24 districts are under the poverty line. It will pave way for the media to "reassess the poverty situation," he said. 2006 Nobel Peace Laureate, Mohammed Yunus, the champion of micro-credit from Bangladesh will deliver the key-note address at the conference. Prominent mediamen from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, The Maldives and Nepal besides Pakistan are expected in Sri Lanka for the two-day conference.
It is the first time such a large gathering of the media from the region is converging in Sri Lanka, said Ameen. The conference will be held at the Cinnamon Gardens Hotel, Colombo.
Sri Lankan Premier, Ratnasiri Wickramanayake will inaugurate the conference with Media and Information Minister, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa as the guest of honour. Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama will be the chief guest of the closing session on Sunday, while opposition Parliamentarian Lakshman Kiriella, representing Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe will be the guest of honour.
The South Asian Free Media Association a organisation which facilitates bi-lateral and multi-lateral cooperation between journalists in the region, was founded in 2000 in Islamabad. The organisation, affiliated to Saarc as the region's professional media body has extended its chapters to all eight Saarc countries.