ABC signs MoUs in Malaysia, Mongolia and Timor-Leste

ABC signs MoUs in Malaysia, Mongolia and Timor-Leste

2 February 2026

ABC signs MoUs in Malaysia, Mongolia and Timor-Leste

ABC International has continued to strengthen its regional partnerships in 2026, signing Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with broadcasters and media organisations in Malaysia, Mongolia and Timor-Leste.

Under the successful program which began in 2022, ABC International has signed 23 similar agreements with leading media organisations in Asia and the Pacific which focus on opportunities to share content, exchange expertise and knowledge, and undertake technical training and media development initiatives.

In the latest round of agreements, ABC International formalised tailored agreements with Timor-Leste’s public service news agency Tatoli, Mongolian National Broadcaster (MNB) and Malaysian state broadcaster Sarawak Media Group (SMG).

The MoUs with MNB and SMG facilitate opportunities for content sharing of news and current affairs, factual, sports and lifestyle programming, in addition to the exchange of technical advice and information, while the Tatoli agreement also includes provisions for ongoing collaboration with ABC International’s media development arm, ABC International Development, which has worked closely with Tatoli in recent years in launching an English-language news service and other capacity building initiatives.

ABC International Head Claire M. Gorman said, “ABC International has worked tirelessly over the past four years to fortify our relationships with like-minded, regional partners and formalise tailored agreements with them. Each MoU establishes a framework for collaboration across areas such as content and information sharing, and media capacity building, and in doing so, brings new opportunities for meaningful engagement.

“We are proud to announce these latest agreements with Tatoli, MNB and SMG, and look forward to the emerging possibilities for closer collaboration and how we can best work together to support and serve our respective audiences through these partnerships.”

The ABC has also recently renewed its partnership with Canadian national broadcaster CBC/Radio-Canada, signing an updated MoU to support content and distribution-related initiatives, including the development of a new children’s co-production It’s Andrew! set to premiere in Australia in 2026.

Radio programmes address climate change

21 May 2010

The AIBs’ new People’s Choice category, focused this year on programmes dealing with climate change, is limited to television programmes.  This is because, unfortunately, it is difficult to ask an international audience to judge radio programmes because of language barriers.  At least with television we can (and will) provide subtitles in a range of languages for the programs to be chosen by popular vote, and the online viewers can see the original output and understand the way that the story is treated.  With radio, in order to convey the quality of a programme, a translation has to be very precise and convey the original intonation and expression.  We hope that AIB members and other colleagues working in radio will forgive us that we were not able to include radio this year.

This is a pity since there are many good examples of radio programmes dealing with climate change.  Only this week it was possible to hear:

  • Vatican Radio reporting on Pope Benedict XVI expressing serious concern for the plight of herders in Mongolia, where extreme weather conditions threaten the livelihood of hundreds of thousands.  The Pope stated that “environmental issues, particularly those related to climate change, are global issues and need to be addressed on a global level”
  • Vermont Public Radio (VPR) on the effects of climate change at Lake Champlain, which now often fails to freeze over in winter.  This visible result brings home the reality of the changes to local people.  While it causes problems, Curt Stager of Paul Smith’s College in the northern Adirondacks points out “It’s a mix of good news and bad news in a way. The bad news is that climate change is likely to amplify some of our existing environmental problems. And the good news is that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel to deal with that.”
  • MetadelPlaneta, the first radio programme in Mexico about climate change, appealing for funds
  • an online podcast about Project Survival Pacific, discussing the danger to low-lying islands in the Pacific of rising sea levels and how the islanders are reacting

However, there were claims that the 4th International Conference on Climate Change hosted by the Heartland Institute was not given coverage by the media.  But you can catch up here to see video and audio of the conference as it is posted.

The programmes mentioned above show how radio broadcasts can bring to life personal stories of how climate affects individuals all over the world.  But the continuing wide divergence of views about what change is happening, what causes it, how damaging it is and what we should do, still challenges the listeners ability to put facts into perspective and broadcasters ability to shed light.

Views on climate change across the world

7 May 2010

The new People’s Choice award in this year’s AIBs is very exciting for a number of reasons.  It is the first time we are asking the general public to vote for awards, which allows the shortlisted entrants to gain a wider exposure for their programmes, as viewers will come from throughout the world, including many countries where the programmes are not currently broadcast.  The voting process will also use social media to gain interest and attention, providing another example of the sort of audience engagement and participation which is becoming more and more important to broadcasting in the 21st century.

In addition climate change, the subject of programmes in the People’s Choice award, is a highly topical subject which provokes fierce debate and raises issues which could have a dramatic impact on the way that all nations live.  Different countries, and even different tribes and regions within countries, risk being affected in different ways.  For example, the indigenous people of the Amazon risk their lands turning into dry savanna (see here for how our sponsor, ADB, is helping the Surui tribe) while the coastal regions risk more flooding.

Because of the differing risks, as well as different political viewpoints, the range of views on climate change is enormous and the challenges of exploring and explaining the science are great.  We hear about the fierce debates in the US Senate ; India and China are signing up to the Copenhagen accord;  a survey in Africa shows that many Africans blame God and not global emissions for climate change; countries as diverse as Mongolia, Saudi Arabia and Madagascar show increasing awareness by joining in Earth Day celebrations.

We are eager to see the submissions for the People’s Choice award to see how broadcasters from throughout the world are tackling this contraversial issue which raises such passion and which is so important to all of our futures.