A hear touching story about NHK Japan journalist Makoto Sugita during the Broadcasting for All session at the Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union’s General Assembly in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Sugita is visually impaired and in 2024, he became the Friday anchor for NHK Radio 1’s weekday evening news program N-Radi (N-Radio).

He played a key, pioneering role in making democratic elections more accessible and inclusive in Japan.

After progressing visual impairment led him to transition from reporting in the field as a political reporter, he joined NHK’s News Department Election Project.

Drawing from his personal experience as a visually impaired journalist, his key contributions to election coverage included the Elections for Everyone Project

In 2022, he launched and led NHK’s initiative aimed at examining barriers that persons with disabilities face when attempting to vote. The project brought election accessibility issues to the forefront of national coverage.

Dr Elham Abedini, the Director General of International Affairs at IRIB, spoke about how women should not be objectified.

This was echoed by CEO and founder of the 11:11 Group from UAE, Dipashree Dass, who said she has too often women being used a tool for ratings and viewership instead of being appreciated.