PHNOM PENH (UCAN) – The upcoming SIGNIS Asia Assembly, to be held for the first time in Cambodia, will boost media activity and awareness of children’s issues in the country, says the host.

The Asian assembly of SIGNIS, a worldwide Catholic association for audiovisual, broadcast and new media, is scheduled Sept. 15-18 in Phnom Penh. Children and the Media is the theme of this fourth Asia-wide assembly, which 53 Church media professionals and workers from 14 Asian countries and territories are expected to attend.
Catholic Social Communications (CSC) of Cambodia is hosting the event in collaboration with other local Church bodies including Don Bosco Social Communication Section in Sihanoukville, Caritas Cambodia Communications Office and Jesuit Communications.

CSC director Father Omer Giraldo told UCA News that hosting the event will not only benefit the Church in Cambodia but also encourage local media and communications projects.

Furthermore, it will boost awareness of children’s rights in the country, said the priest, a member of the Yarumal foreign mission society, based in his native Colombia.

“The congress will have a positive influence on many journalists and communicators in Cambodia. This positive element will reach many Cambodian children who suffer because of the lack of awareness of children’s rights,” the priest asserted.

Similarly, SIGNIS Asia president Lawrence John told UCA News the Asian assembly “provides a platform for organizations and institutions working with children in Cambodia to further address issues of children’s rights and concerns.” He expects that “sensitizing (people on) the issues will bring about greater knowledge and change to benefit the children.”

John pointed out that SIGNIS Asia chose the theme for its upcoming assembly to prepare for the SIGNIS World Assembly next year in Thailand, which will focus on Media for a Culture of Peace – Children’s Rights, Tomorrow’s Promise. He remarked that “the most vulnerable audience in the era of information is children.”

On why Cambodia was chosen as host, he said young people form the core of SIGNIS Cambodia, and SIGNIS Asia wants to support and encourage young people’s involvement in media to promote a culture of peace. CSC is currently the only member-organization in SIGNIS Cambodia.

SIGNIS Asia board members chose Cambodia to host the Asian assembly when they visited last March to celebrate CSC’s fifth anniversary. Father Giraldo described that anniversary event as “an impressive occasion to mark the achievements of this very young institution.”

Media in Cambodia as a whole “has developed very fast during the past 10 years,” the missioner observed.
“When I came to Cambodia in 1995,” he recalled, “there were only a few newspapers in Khmer language, and the Cambodia Daily in English was just beginning. Now the print press is spread all over the country.” He added that “other media have developed very much as well, especially TV,” although he acknowledged “there is a long way to go.”

Father Giraldo expressed concern that Cambodia today is a “new society” that has emerged from decades of conflict, so “most adults, parents and even societal leaders do not have good experience in dealing with new media and technology.”

“The danger,” as he sees it, “is that most children and young people, especially in the countryside, become consumers of whatever comes to their senses without discerning what is good and what is not good.”

One way to face this challenge is to educate parents, educators and societal leaders on the media, and, through them, hold training programs for children and young people on how the media works, the priest suggested.
The upcoming assembly will feature a one-minute video production contest.

After the assembly, participants are scheduled to visit the famous 12th-century Angkor Wat temple complex, about 240 kilometers northwest of Phnom Penh, and attend Mass at a nearby church in a floating village along the Tonle Sap (great lake).

Catholic media people are expected to attend from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.