In an unprecedented collaboration between public service media, 37 EBU Members are dedicating multiplatform programming to poverty throughout November, building to a single themed day on November 29.

Coordinated by Eurovision, the Why Poverty? Day will be the pinnacle of a broader initiative in which poverty has featured highly on the November schedules of EBU Members.

Participating Members plan multichannel, multimedia output, which includes airing content from a specially commissioned series of eight documentaries and 30 shorts by award-winning filmmakers.

In addition, many Members have commissioned their own poverty-themed radio and TV programmes, and others will stage live studio debates on the issue of poverty.

EBU Director General Ingrid Deltenre noted that Eurovision’s Why Poverty? Day is especially germane when economic crisis and austerity are dominant themes globally, and European public service media are beset by financial adversity.

Ms Deltenre said: “Part of the role of public service media is to start, host and contribute to international debates, and to help find solutions to problems. Only the EBU can facilitate the distribution and broadcast of these fantastic documentaries in this way, which is why we have made Why Poverty? a core project this year.”

She added: “The EBU works to provide Members with top quality programming that makes them distinctive and relevant. Why Poverty? is just one example of that principle in practice.”

For further information, please contact

KAREN MAZZOLI, Media Officer,
T +41 (0)22 717 2415
M +41 (0)79 752 4549
E [email protected]

ANNA VASOVA, Project Leader,
T +41 (0)22 717 2823
M +41 (0)79 200 7912
E [email protected]