The aim of the project is to raise awareness among Slovenians that the situation in the developing countries is not as it is presented to be. Lenka Vojnovič, the PR at the Slovene Philanthropy, says it is possible to put an end to global poverty. The project is one of the biggest events in the framework of the European Year for Development. Almost 30 organisations from all over Slovenia have joined the project.
All is not that bad
The main organizers of the World's Best News project are from Denmark. They started the project five years ago when they realized that journalists mostly focus on the problems in society and that readers were mostly served negative news from developing countries. As a consequence readers they have developed a fairly negative perception towards the underdeveloped, although the situation in those countries is often much better than it is presented to be, is what the organizers of the project stress. That is why they have decided to take a different approach in order to show how much the developing regions have progressed in the last decade.
The UN Human Development Index also proves that all is not that bad. On a global scale the life expectancy rate has significantly increased since the year 1990. People have become more educated and have higher average incomes. Thanks to the development programs, under the patronage of the European Union, today there are 14 million more children in schools, 70 million people have gained access to clean drinking water, and health workers have helped in more than seven million births in order to prevent deaths in child birth or other complications.
"Things can even get better"
Lenka Vojnovič stressed the often incorrect presentations of the situation in developing countries: "Many times we hear about emergency humanitarian aid, while less often about the projects stimulated by development aid concerning sustainable development and other long-term benefits for groups of people, such as infrastructure. Development assistance programs help countries achieve things, and those things are presented in the World's Best News."
With the project the Slovenian Philanthropy also wants to point to the difference between humanitarian aid and development cooperation. The association also wants to change the opinion of people, who first think starved children and diseases when one mentions Africa. "The message of the campaign is that things can even get better," added Vojnovič.
Volunteers are still welcome
Apart from Slovenia another 12 countries are taking part in the project this year. On the 11th of September printed newspapers will be distributed on the streets of the participating countries, to try present the achievements of the international development assistance programs.