Deutsche Welle: Vandana Shiva at the Global Media Forum

Deutsche Welle expects around 2,000 guests at its international media conference, which is to be held on June 17 to 19 in the World Conference Center Bonn. Kicking off the event on Monday morning is a ceremony honoring the 60th anniversary of Deutsche Welle, which went on air for the first time on May 3, 1953.

In more than 50 workshops, participants from around the world will then go on to discuss the forum's central topic: "The Future of Growth - Economic Values and the Media."

"Deutsche Welle's Global Media Forum is the ideal meeting ground. This year's topic is extremely relevant," said Indian human rights activist Vandana Shiva. She will speak on June 19 at DW Global Media Forum on the topic of "Globalization and Values." Shiva is convinced that “globalization of trade has led to divergence and magnified the gap between rich and poor.” She also believes that the international media can be an instrument for "democracy, freedom and human rights" in crisis situations.

In 1993, Vandana Shiva received the Right Livelihood Award, also known as the Alternative Nobel Prize. Time magazine honored her as an "environmental hero" in 2003, and the Indian physicist received the Sydney Peace Prize in 2010.

Partners and supporters

This year's Global Media Forum was organized in partnership with UN organizations UN Water, UNEVOC and UNCTAD, as well as Amnesty International, Germanwatch, Misereor, the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, the World Future Council, the Grimme Institut, the Goethe Institut and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

The 2013 Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum is co-hosted by the Foundation for International Dialogue of the Sparkasse in Bonn. It is supported by Germany's Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the European Regional Development Fund, the Minister for Federal Affairs, Europe and the Media in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, as well as by the City of Bonn. The North Rhine-Westphalian Foundation for Environment and Development is a cooperation partner.