The purpose of the organisation is to use media and communication to reduce poverty, improve health and support people in understanding their rights.
[1][2] This was set up to encourage "high standards of journalism" in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe in the 1990s.
[4] The charity is funded by external grants and voluntary contributions and works with many media, non-governmental, academic and donor organisations around the world.
In November 2011, the UK government's Department for International Development (DFID) announced a five-year grant of £90 million to the charity.
[7] In 2010 the charity won a Tech Award for developing a mobile phone service for teaching English to people in Bangladesh.