# Introduction to GFMD IMPACT

### Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD)

**GFMD's Executive Director, Mira Milosevic,** opened the meeting by explaining that GFMD IMPACT aims to assist donors, funders, policy-makers, practitioners, and other stakeholders in making informed, evidence-based decisions on strategies, programming, funding, and advocacy for media development and journalism support. 

Activities in 2021 will include hosting meetings bringing together donors, practitioners and researchers (the meeting on [“Theories of change and impact measurement”](https://app.gitbook.com/@gfmd/s/impact/gfmd-impact-activities/march-2021) was the first of these meetings) and establishing a [Help Desk](https://app.gitbook.com/@gfmd/s/impact/gfmd-impact-activities/2021#establishing-a-help-desk), which will use a network of experts and resources brought together by GFMD to respond in a timely fashion to requests from donors. 

For information about the meeting background, consultations, studies and co-design sessions that have led to the creation of GFMD IMPACT see: 

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[Consultation (2019)](/background/consultation.md)
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{% content-ref url="/pages/-MUiCXG3rVRuWRRu0Men" %}
[Co-design (2020-2021)](/background/co-design.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}

### Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)

**Melina Papageorgiou** explained that SDC has supported the creation of GFMD IMPACT as the sector needed a better long-lasting mechanism to

* exchange evidence about what works to better inform media support policies of donors 
* complement and bring together other initiatives 
* distil learning from decades of media support
* respond to a very fast-moving field full of challenges
* provide a forum for media organisations in resource-poor and fragile contexts to share their perspective with donors, practitioners and researchers. 
* contribute to more coordinated policies for media support.

### Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA) 

CIMA's director, Mark Nelson, said that dealing with the relationship between donors and practitioners and the knowledge and information that they accumulate during the course of their work was critical. 

A growing sense of urgency borne out of the economic crisis facing the media, accompanying misinfodemic, and the growing attention to media support gives momentum for change. 

> *“We really need to share knowledge and learning about what works and what doesn't and to catalogue that knowledge so that we can get better results and be able to articulate those results. We also need new approaches to media development that is not only built on rigorous research, evidence and practical experience, but which also leverages from other areas of the development agenda to address the enabling environment for the media, the governance of the media, the governance of the Internet and social media.”*  

***

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