The 51st General Assembly Conference of the Federation of Arab News Agencies (FANA), organized by the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), concluded on Monday. The conference adopted recommendations and resolutions to strengthen joint cooperation, modernize workflows and secure the future of the Arab media.
The conference was chaired by Dr. Jamal Mohammed Obaid Al Kaabi, Acting Director General of the Emirates News Agency (UAE Breaking) and current President of FANA, and Fatma Al Salem, Vice President of FANA and CEO of KUNA. The event was attended by CEOs and heads of Arab news agencies or their representatives, as well as the General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council as observers.
The conference discussed holding the 52nd session of the General Assembly in Kuwait and proposed holding it in the last quarter of 2025.
Discussions focused on KUNA’s proposals for a special children’s newsletter on media literacy, an AI journalism newsletter, and KUNA’s News Verification and Rumor Response Observatory. The proposal for Arab news agencies to participate in KUNA magazine on special occasions was also considered.
The Conference agreed to continue the joint Economic News Unit until 2025, with each agency contributing regularly to the newsletter.
The General Assembly reviewed the results of a workshop on economic reporting in the media, emphasizing its role in developing skills among the staff of Arab news agencies. It recommended a new workshop and encouraged the agency’s staff to participate in annual workshops and seminars organized by the General Secretariat to improve the quality of work.
The General Assembly also approved the General Secretariat’s initiative to produce an environmental bulletin from the beginning of 2025, modeled on existing bulletins, and to make the data available to the specialized departments of news agencies for use in their bulletins.
The decisions included a recommendation for training on marketing, public relations and international relations to build strong relations among Arab news agencies and fill gaps in the federation.
In addition, a short report entitled “Lecture on the history and concepts of public relations” was distributed to the agencies for study and discussion in a future study session. The importance of visiting the headquarters of European and international news agencies to promote the development of media practices was emphasized.
The Assembly also examined the report of a special course prepared by the General Secretariat to improve the skills of Arab journalists in the field of sustainable development, in accordance with the decisions of the Council of Arab Ministers of Information. The General Secretariat was instructed to reissue invitations to the 2025 training workshop on the Arab Media Map for Sustainable Development 2030.