Paul Buccieri, President of A+E Networks, will be presented with the award on Thursday 15 April during the Digital Miptv event, for his contribution in reducing inequalities.
MIPTV announced A+E Networks as the recipient of the second annual MIP SDG Award which will be presented during Digital MIPTV week (12-16 April).
In support of the United Nations, and in line with the Decade of Action for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Reed MIDEM, a member of the SDG Media Compact, last year launched its annual MIP SDG Award to honour media companies for their action and contribution to delivering the Sustainable Development Goals.
This year’s award will be dedicated to Goal #10 – Reduced Inequalities.
Paul Buccieri, President of A+E Networks, will be presented with the award on Thursday 15 April, in a dedicated online event featuring stars from A+E Networks as well as the UN’s Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, Melissa Fleming.
The award recognises A+E Networks’ long-standing commitment to reducing inequality, promoting diversity and inclusion and fearlessly bringing controversial topics to the table like sexism, racism, violence against women through a wide range of actions that encompass its programming, internal policies, hiring decisions and corporate outreach initiatives.
Paul Buccieri, President of A+E Networks said: “We are very grateful to the United Nations and our partners at Reed MIDEM for recognising our team’s commitment to equality, justice, diversity and inclusion. At A+E Networks, we believe that striving for equality is a never-ending and ongoing journey that we are all on together. Our company has a long-standing history of working towards positive change, and we believe firmly and passionately in using our platforms for purpose. There is more work to be done, and we are honored to continue to join with our partners to achieve these goals.”
Lucy Smith, Director of MIPTV, commented: “We are delighted to honour Paul Buccieri and A+E Networks with this second MIP SDG Award. They are a leading voice in promoting equality and most importantly are committed to taking action and using their platforms to drive change. We are very proud to have a long-standing association with them as founding partners of the MIPCOM Women in Global Entertainment Power Lunch, and the MIPCOM Diversify TV Excellence Awards.”
In recent years A+E Networks have spearheaded a number of important initiatives to drive their change agenda and vision for a more equal and inclusive world.
The Broad Focus initiative was designed to provide women with more opportunities to write, develop, produce and direct for the network. A+E’s Lifetime now exceeds industry averages with 82% of writers, 78% of directors and 67% of producers who are women. The Voices Magnified short form series launched by the network across multiple platforms celebrates people making positive change and challenging inequalities in their communities. Last year saw an impactful campaign to end violence against women launched across their networks. And Peabody Award Winning documentary, Surviving R Kelly, gave voice to victims and provoked a world-wide conversation about the hidden abuse.
Corporately, the business is committed to building a culture of inclusion internally that allows all employees to prosper regardless of race, ethnicity, gender of sexual orientation. They actively partner, sponsor and donate to groups and organizations who share these goals.
