Windhoek Final Report

Final Report
"Ten Years On: Assessment, Challenges and Prospects"

3- 5 May 2001
Windhoek

A. Keynote Address and First Plenary Session: Obstacles to Media Freedom in Africa

1. In his keynote address, Mr. Abid Hussain, the UN Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, congratulated UNESCO and MISA for organizing the Windhoek conference “Ten Years On: Assessment, Challenges and Prospects”. He emphasized the need for Africa to reinforce freedom of speech and freedom of the media, without which, no real development progress could be made.

2. Recalling the movement to establish free, independent and pluralistic media in Africa, which started 10 years ago, he noted that achievements made so far have been both exciting and challenging. As a result, Africans do not now need any assistance to speak; they can speak and are speaking for themselves. Mr. Hussain affirmed that democracy could not be defended in silence and secrecy, but only by confronting the challenges could lasting democratic governance be achieved. He warned that authoritarian regimes have not yet come to an end, and the media must therefore continue to give voice to those who struggle to defend democracy. It is extremely important, Mr. Hussain said, that democracy be nurtured because only then can human rights be guaranteed.

3. He noted that certain values, such as the need to preserve national security and national unity, have been used by authoritarian regimes as excuses to curtail freedom of expression and to persecute journalists. In many instances, repressive statutory provisions, such as law and order regulations, have also been used as an excuse to suppress human rights. Yet, even in countries where it has been claimed that national security, unity and the existence of law and order have led to economic gains and development, insecurity has continued to reign in the streets and, invariably, the gains made have been quickly lost. By suppressing public opinion through denial of freedom of the press, such governments did not receive feedback from the people and hence could not get public support for their policies. In addition, many governments use the excuse of preservation of national culture to suppress human rights. Yet, noted Mr. Hussain, the culture being protected is often not the people’s culture, but that of a small middle class elite in such countries.

4. He observed that both the speed and volume of information flow nowadays have helped to defeat those who sought to censor information, with the consequence that governments have been forced to be more accountable to their citizens. He recommended the setting up of more watchdog organizations to safeguard freedom of the media because the media are “too important to be left in the hands of politicians”. He also suggested that increased information flow to deprived rural populations should be addressed as an urgent priority.

B. Presentation of Background Papers

5. Dr. Lewis Odhiambo, Director of the School of Journalism at the University of Nairobi, made a brief introduction to his document, reviewing the media situation in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. He pointed out that one of the major obstacles to freedom of the media were the many anachronistic administrative laws and regulations which still remain on the statute books of those countries. Given that Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is an important benchmark against which to measure the freedom of the media in any country, he argued that only the Ugandan constitution came close to measuring to this international standard. The constitutions of Kenya and Tanzania fail the test in that they do not guarantee the right of access to information in the possession of government and public institutions.

6. He said that the other obstacle to freedom of expression and the media was a conservative judiciary that habitually interpreted civil rights provisions in the constitutions of the countries under review in such a way as to assure law and order, rather than to enhance human rights. Moreover, in some countries in the region, good human rights laws exist but are simply ignored. For instance, whereas Uganda has strong constitutional protections for freedom of the media, the law also provides that Parliament shall make laws regulating how such freedoms are to be exercised. To this extent, Parliament becomes an official censor that decides what people may know and say. He also stressed that in some countries, government owned media had lost their public service aims and were competing with the private media in the search for advertising revenue. He affirmed that the development of the media could not be achieved in poor countries where people live on less than a dollar a day and that some large media houses were taking over smaller institutions and destroying them in order to minimize competition.

7. In his introduction to the background paper “Southern Africa Regional Perspectives” Mr. Cyril Sipho Maphanga, Home & Co. Media Lawyers Network from South Africa, asked to what extent the resolutions in articles 4 and 9 of the Windhoek Declaration had been fulfilled. He indicated that the research work carried out for his paper had been based on two main premises: a) That freedom of expression had been granted in the SADEC countries’ constitutions; and b) That there was an enabling legal and economic environment for the media. He indicated that, in some countries, there were no written (constitutional) guarantees for freedom of expression, while in others there were specific laws protecting secrecy of sources, but that these laws actually were insufficient to protect the freedom of expression. Mr Maphanga mentioned that many countries still restrict freedom of expression through public order and security laws and by declaring states of emergency. These provisions have a chilling effect on the exercise of freedom of expression and lead to self-censorship. The majority of the countries of the region have restrictive legislation, such as those relating to sedition, official secret laws and "false news", as well as on the disclosure or non-disclosure of sources. He nevertheless remarked that, in the last ten years, there had been advances especially in the areas of access to and diffusion of information and the creation of media councils. He recommended the reviewing of laws that go against the press and also pleaded for the enforcing of international conventions, such as the African Charter of Human Rights.

8. In his remarks, Mr. Kabral Baly-Amihere, President of the West African Journalists Association (WAJA), indicated that West African media had a long tradition from which one would expect some refinement in the application of the laws referring to freedom of the media. However, in fact, that was not the case. He noted that governments of the region showed arrogance and contempt. In support of this argument he gave examples of countries that forbid foreign journalists to exercise their profession without permit, others that arrest journalists and even kill journalists with impunity. He also criticized the arrogance of governments that use armed conflict to restrict freedom of the media. However, he mentioned that there are countries that were making efforts to scrap criminal libel laws.

9. Presenting his report on Central Africa Regional Perspectives, Mr. Celestin Lingo, President of the Cameroun Union of Journalists (UJC) and Acting Director-General of “Le Messager”, indicated that obstacles to the media in that region are numerous and varied. He said that press bills in most countries of the region have too many repressive articles and indicated that there were others that still have judicial and police censorship. As press bills are usually attached to criminal codes, journalists tend to be treated like common criminals. Courts also hand-down heavy fines that cripple the economic viability of the media, while journalists also suffer from numerous acts of violence.

10. Mr Lingo also described economic ailments of the independent media, including a lack of income from government advertising, small markets, inadequate technology and the high costs of newspaper production. In this context, he criticised governments in the region for not respecting the Florence and Beirut agreements on the Free Flow of Cultural Goods and, in particular, of newsprint and printing equipment. He mentioned the deplorable working conditions of journalists, which in some cases pushed them to abandon the media in search of better paid jobs and which forced some journalists to give in to corruption, through being paid for ‘articles on command’. Finally, he pleaded for comprehensive assistance to the independent press and for strong national media associations.

11. During the discussions following the presentation, a participant asked if recommendations of the AMARC and Article 19 pre-conference workshops were to be included in the Windhoek Seminar recommendations. She asked why the background documents had not addressed the question of regulations and licensing of broadcasting institutions and the broadcasting sector in general. To conclude, she informed the audience that contrary to the outcome of the study on East Africa, there were, in fact, “community radios” operating in East Africa. Another participant wondered what the UN was doing about eliminating censorship, while a representative of an international NGO stated that civil defamation laws were also often in breach of the guarantee of freedom of expression.

12. With respect to the recommendations of the AMARC/Article 19 pre-conference workshop, the participants were informed that these would be presented to the Windhoek Seminar drafting committee for possible inclusion in the Seminar’s recommendations. On the question of information on broadcasting, the panel indicated that there was a real problem in accessing information on the subject and that there was not a clear definition of “community radios.” On the matter of censorship, the UN Special Rapporteur indicated that, as an intergovernmental organization, the UN used several means of putting pressure on governments, such as reporting to the General Assembly and visits to Member States.

C. Presentation of “Insult Laws: Insult to Press Freedom” by Marilyn Greene, Executive Director, World Press Freedom Committee (WPFC) and Mr. Ronald Koven, European Representative (WPFC),

13. In assessing the development of freedom of expression since the first Windhoek conference, Ms. Marilyn Greene stressed that freedom of expression belongs to everyone. She regretted that there were public officials who found journalists “annoying and threatening”; similarly she was concerned with “Insult Laws”, especially those that protect Heads of State and governments from being criticized. She affirmed that such laws were inconsistent with the provisions of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration and gave many examples of those. She explained her organization’s fight against "Insult Laws" and called for their elimination. Ms Greene mentioned that it was important for the media to keep the pressure on leaders on the issue of accountability and praised the European Court of Human Rights for its position against “Insult Laws”, arguing that the function of the press in a democracy is precisely to participate in the political process and in public issues carried on by political office holders. She ended her presentation by pledging support to those who fight for the elimination of these laws and reaffirmed that only through openness and transparency can a nation realize its full potential.

14. Mr. Ronald Koven, based his speech on a presentation made by James H. Ottaway Jr, World Press Freedom Committee Chairman, at the 3 May celebrations at the United Nations in New York, in which he indicated that nobody should prescribe what the media should print or broadcast. He related this practice to the text of Article 19 which, in his opinion, was the clearest and most unfettered UN statement in this field. He made reference to the WPFC’s book New Code Words for Censorship in which it is stated that “freedom of expression is best protected by the concept of negative liberty that means the least possible regulation”. He affirmed that “the best defense against racism, insult, hate speech and offence is more speech, not less”.

15. Mr Koven then read extracts of a letter sent to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, in which his organization criticized a joint statement submitted by three international rapporteurs on freedom of expression in preparation for the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance which refers to the “moral and social obligation by the news media”. The main argument advanced by WPFC was that similar statements of obligations or roles assigned to the written and broadcast press by others had been exploited to curb free speech. Mr Koven called for total freedom of expression without any interference, in the name of the fight against racism, insult, hate speech and offence.

D. Second Plenary Session: Information Technology: Public Service Broadcasting, Internet and Liberalization of Airwaves

16. Speaking on Southern Africa Regional Perspectives, Dr Roland Stanbridge of Stockholm University said that since Windhoek 1991, the Internet has come to Africa and is changing the media landscape. Before, it was rare for African media to report on events even in neighboring countries, unless they were simply publishing material from AFP, Reuters, BBC World, etc. Communication links between African states were scarce and expensive but there is now some form of permanent connectivity in all 54 African States and about 200 online news media on the continent.

17. Dr Stanbridge said that some journalists were beginning to use the Internet for conducting research and the e-mail as an everyday-working tool; they also read online newspapers from other African States. He observed that all these promoted debate and the free flow of ideas and led to more nuanced and contextual information. Media managers, however, were often uninterested in providing newsroom access to the Internet. In recent years, a number of donor and training organizations have held a variety of online literacy courses. Several innovative examples have emerged, e.g. MISAnet, MediaF, PANOS.

18. He gave examples of the use of Internet to thwart attempts to silence outspoken media, such as when the Zambian government ordered the ISP Zamnet to remove an issue of “The Post” newspaper. By the time Zamnet removed the issue, it had already become available at several other Internet sites around the world. He observed that Africa news media should make ICT developments and issues understandable to their audiences and should become actively engaged in debates on the development of IT policies.

19. Dr Lewis Odhiambo, School of Journalism, University of Nairobi, presented the situation in East Africa and said that even though the broadcast sector had been practically opened in all East African countries, true diversity had been hampered by three principal factors:

i. Public broadcasting, through devolved to state corporations, has not been given full managerial independence and editorial autonomy. In fact, members of their boards of management have continued to be government appointees, and they have functioned, in practice, as government departments.

ii. Public broadcasters have been given undue advantages over private broadcasters in terms of frequency allocation and geographical area of coverage.

iii. The poor economic performance of East African nations during the 1990s restricted the expansion of the broadcast sector, thus most new entrants tended to be affiliates of foreign-based broadcasters, especially from Europe, South Africa and the US.

20. Other problems include poor information infrastructures, lack of communication policy frameworks against which privatisation of the sector was to be effected, political patronage and corruption in the allocation of frequency spectrums, and poor understanding of audience characteristics and capacity to consume broadcast media products.

21. Dr Nihi Alabi, journalist and communication consultant from Ghana, presented the West Africa regional perspectives and said that in Africa, radio and television had been perceived as extremely sensitive media organs because coup makers could simply storm a radio station to announce that they had seized power. He remarked that laws were not the only obstacle to good community radio stations, but in certain countries there were numerous stations which were of a poor standard because of the lack of training of their staff.

22. He said that Senegal stands out as a shining example of a truly pluralistic country. Dr Alabi noted that the country’s media landscape glitters, while in other countries in the sub-region, it can only flicker. He also said that the 3rd Republican Constitution of January 1992 in Mali guarantees press freedom, but behind the façade of this media pluralism reigns an inexplicable hostility towards certain individuals of the media. He said that it was easy for people to visit West Africa and come away having seen liberalisation but the true picture was more difficult.

23. M Mwamba wa ba Mulamba, Secretary General of ‘Journalists in Danger’, Kinshasa talked on Central Africa regional perspectives. He noted that it was difficult to gather information in this region, which is large and has no developed infrastructure, particularly transport, and no contact with the Great Lakes. He said that the advent of the Internet in 1995-1997 had improved the flow of information. There was less censorship, thanks to the Internet. But the costs of access are high - US$300 a month. Newspapers also have low circulation – 5 000 copies maximum.

24. Ms Farhana Ismail, Regional Adviser for the IFJ and executive member of the Media Workers’ Association of South Africa, said that talk about pluralism is at the abstract level – the biggest challenge was the effect of changes in the newsroom; new technology vs. jobs. She argued that it was necessary to look at how women, for example, are developed in the newsrooms and are depicted in the media. She suggested that the Windhoek Declaration could be enhanced by looking at issues of gender, saving jobs, maintaining integrity and the public’s right to know.

25. Mr John Barker, Head of Africa Programme for Article 19 and of the Global Campaign for Free Expression underlined the fact that there was a need to regulate markets in order to limit mergers and take-overs of press ownership. He then briefly presented the issues that were covered in the pre-conference workshop on broadcasting.

26. The following are some of the comments and issues raised by the participants after the presentations:
· Inaccuracies in the Central Africa report. Kinshasa has 12 radio stations operating and eight are community-based. A festival of community radios was held on March 19-22, 2001. Radio stations that were broadcasting foreign content had been paid by the foreign broadcasters to relay their material. There are no armed troops guarding the radio stations.
· There is no broadcasting commission in Zanzibar, and on the mainland Tanzania. FM radios that cover 25 % of the country can reach the whole country by means of boosters.
· Need to develop policy and find a common understanding of telecommunications in Africa.
· Civil society must have a stake in developments in the media – in England, for example, they have the “Association of Listeners and Viewers”.
· New technologies – telephone still a luxury in many areas. Government must provide infrastructure, like telephone lines.
· Need for reduction of taxes on production equipment;
· Media landscape might have changed with new press freedom laws, but fear still rules. Private press still hampered, editors jailed. Editors have financial and other organizational problems.
· Broadcasters should encourage private producers, thus enhancing diversity.
· Africans themselves should invest in community radio.
· Africa is behind in the development of ICTs.
· Imperative that there be pressure groups like the Campaign for Open Media, that forced the South African government to liberalise the airwaves. Such groups, as the Freedom of Expression Institute and the Media Monitoring Project in South Africa, should be established throughout Africa.
· Struggle to repeal libel laws in Benin.
· Are donors committed to supporting troubled media practitioners?
· Allocation of frequencies is done by ITU – problems are at the national level.

27. Mr Leonard Sussman of Freedom House in the U.S.A presented preliminary results of a "Survey on Freedom on the Internet". He gave a comprehensive overview of the development of the Internet, providing a wide range of figures and other details. He noted that the Internet was hard to censor, and thus provided great opportunities for the freedom of expression to prosper.

E. Third Plenary Session: Status of Journalists and Media Professional Organizations

28. The session heard reports, in order of presentation, from West Africa, Southern Africa, MISA, East Africa, and Central Africa. All the reports gave an assessment of the progress made and challenges encountered against the provisions of Article 12 of the Windhoek Declaration which proposed the establishment or strengthening of independent media professional unions or associations to promote the rights and interests of journalists.

West Africa

29. The report notes that, before 1991, there existed in some form or another unions or associations in many countries. Since then, there has been significant progress as well as some difficulties. There is one national union or association in most countries that unites all journalists. In a number of countries, however, there are two unions representing (usually) practitioners in the public and the private sectors.

30. In addition to the professional groupings, which serve as the principal representatives of journalists in their countries, several other organisations have also been set up to perform various roles in promoting the rights and welfare of journalists. Several media women’s associations have been formed by female professionals to promote gender equality as well as deal with the specific questions of women in the media. There have been attempts at regional networking of these gender-based organisations.

31. In many countries, there have been formed guilds of editors, associations of publishers and broadcast station owners, and groups based on specialised areas such as economics and finance reporters, sports writers, etc. There have also appeared media rights and free expression non-governmental organisations such as the Media Rights Agenda in Lagos, Nigeria and the Media Foundation for West Africa in Accra, Ghana. At the national level in countries like Mali and Ghana, there have been formed networks of community radio stations. A West Africa Independent Broadcasters Association was formed, but has been dormant for some time. Some unions still come under strong pressure from the governments in the countries. An example is the Press Union of Liberia which operates under severe difficulties. Some of the unions have played important roles in calling for the reforms of inimical laws. The union of private media in Togo, for example, worked to reduce the penalties associated with a law.

32. Many of the national associations have established Press Centers, offices that bring together the unions and provide many services including Internet access and training facilities. Many of them have initiated, in collaboration with international press organisations such as the IFJ, training courses to upgrade members’ professional capacity. Some of the unions or associations have established committees or observatories for monitoring and promoting professional responsibility and ethical behavior. This has in many countries helped to minimise professional abuses and to protect many media organisations from possible problems with the law. The West African Journalists Association which is the umbrella regional organisation for the unions and associations, has also seen significant organisational strengthening and effectiveness during this period.

Southern Africa

33. Considerable progress has been made with regard to the development of independent media and media organisations. However, the capacity for journalists to organise themselves as professional organisations to champion the interests of professionals has often been compromised by the failure of the professionals themselves to organise. Some progress in terms of the organisation of unions has been made in South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe where there are effective unions. In a number of other countries there are no unions of much significance. Angola and Namibia have no effective union; Botswana’s exists only in name; and those in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mozambique also have severe weaknesses and are, therefore, ineffective. With the exception of South Africa, no union in the sub-region has been able to establish codes of ethics or conduct for its members.

34. Some of the factors that have hindered effective organization of unions of journalists were identified. They include:

a) lack of resources among journalists, such as inability to open offices, poor logistics, poor salaries and, therefore, weak membership subscriptions;
b) lack of unity among journalists, exemplified by the situation in Zimbabwe where the professionals are polarized between those working in the state-owned media and those in the privately owned media.

35. In some countries, there have also arisen expressions of animosity between publishers and editors. Some has come about from an allegation that many publishers are not interested in advocacy issues to promote rights of journalists and other pursuits and seem concerned only with their business interests. Also, in this region, a number of women’s media organisations have emerged to address questions of gender in media as well as the specific interests of women in the media. A participant drew attention to problems facing the South African Journalists Union (SAJU) which, she said, has been declining in membership since 1994. It has also lost much of its bargaining capacity and has not been producing any new cadre to replace the old leadership that is leaving the scene.

Media Institute for Southern Africa

36. The report focused on the origins and work of this regional organisation. MISA started as a self-initiative of journalists and not as an organisation driven by donor need or agenda. Some of the people who started the organisation later became publishers themselves. Its focus was on the interests of journalists. However, it also pursued interests of other communication professionals. From its inception, MISA saw itself as an implementing arm of the precepts and objectives of the Windhoek Declaration in the Southern Africa region. This is the benchmark by which the organisation assesses its achievements and challenges over the period.

37. The MISA report said that the organisation has met about 95% of the objectives it set itself over the decade. It started off with a project to monitor and defend attacks on journalists; produced “Alerts” that aroused the world to protest any act of repression of journalists; and contributed to promoting an improved atmosphere for journalists to work in. It also set up a legal defence fund to support journalists and media organisations persecuted in the courts by the state. It has also successfully challenged legislation inimical to media rights and free expression.

38. MISA initiated training projects to support professional capacity development and also set up a scholarship scheme to offer assistance to journalists for further training programmes to upgrade their professional capacity. It has also established prizes for journalistic excellence region-wide. A number of national unions also administer similar awards to give incentives to journalists for higher professional standards.

East Africa

39. Media practice in the region is characterised by low technical skills and limited professional capacity. This has been exacerbated by the liberalisation of the industry, by which means more media organisations have emerged, employing many practitioners without adequate preparation. In addition, journalists also have low social status.

40. There are training institutions in all the countries. Some offer university-level training, while others offer training at the diploma level. Kenya has training programmes in about three universities, the best known being the School of Journalism at the University of Nairobi and the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication. Tanzania’s School of Journalism has been offering diploma courses for a very long time. The St. Augustine’s Training Centre (formerly the Nyegezi Training Centre) provides advanced training in journalism. There are also a number of private training programmes in Tanzania. In Uganda, Makerere University offers a course in media and there are also a number of private training centers.

41. Practitioners in East Africa have varied backgrounds and, generally, have poor remunerations and irregular working conditions which leave them vulnerable to exploitation by employes. Professional associations are generally weak in the region. Mainland Tanzania has a union of journalists which is voluntary. In Zanzibar, however, it is obligatory for all practitioners to join the union. Though Uganda has no professional association that brings all professionals together, professional women have had a well-organised body for a number of years in this decade.

42. Though the report did not include Rwanda and Burundi, a participant noted that in Rwanda, journalists do not have national organisations. Instead, practitioners are organised in some of the specialised areas such as sports and culture, while women media professionals also have an association.

Central Africa

43. The region presents a picture of professionals struggling against difficulties to organise themselves. Many countries have organisations which have not been recognised, or which are weakened because of governmental interference.

44. Gabon has the strongest economy in the region. But journalists have no central association or union, and have no collective bargaining. The groups existing are those that bring together professionals in a number of specialised areas, such as sports and finance. Journalists may also be found within the union of cultural workers. The government has impeded the organisation of the journalists. The Central African regional association of journalists plans to organise its next congress in Gabon with the hope that they can influence the government to liberalise its attitude to the journalists in the country.

45. In 1996, the Cameroun Union of Journalists was formed. However, government interfered with by attempting to impose on the union its favored leaders. The struggles left the union inactive until 2000 when the union appointed its own independent leadership. Since then, the organisation has shown remarkable dynamism. In the Central African Republic, the national union is inactive largely because the government is opposed to its independent leadership. But the group of newspaper editors, who are part of the regional body, are, for example, active in promoting some activities to support journalists in collaboration with UNESCO.

46. The government of Equatorial Guinea has refused to recognise the national journalists' organisation and even refused to allow members to travel to participate in regional activities. The Democratic Republic of Congo has a number of organisations of journalists and some non-governmental organisations (such as Journalists in Danger) that fight for the rights of journalists. Chad has about the strongest union in the region, which has been at the forefront of struggles for media rights and journalists’ welfare. It has been involved in processes of media law reform to liberalise the environment and conditions of operation. The union is working to try to unite different groups into a stronger national body. It has initiated training programmes to upgrade the professional skills of its members with support from donor organisations.

F. Fourth Plenary Session: The Impact of The Windhoek Declaration

47. Five speakers representing various organizations, and regions of the world including UNESCO, IFJ, Latin America, IFEX and the Pacific gave presentations. The moderator, Mr Torben Krogh, also gave brief remarks on the contribution of the International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) to the realisation of the tenets of the Windhoek Declaration. He spoke of linkages with UNESCO and said that, before the Windhoek Declaration, IPDC would support only project proposals approved by governments. However, IPDC decided that projects to be supported should promote pluralism and, thus, the independent media became a priority.

48. However, the IPDC experienced problems with the shift as there emerged a lot of competition for such resources by the private media. To avoid the unnecessary competition, IPDC drew up criteria and gave community media high priority, the reason being that, where they have been established, promotion of pluralism and press freedom of the media have resulted.

49. Mr. Alain Modoux, Assistant Director General for Communication and Information for UNESCO, also noted that many things have changed since the first Windhoek Seminar. He said that, in the 1990s, the political climate was different. The Windhoek conference was specific, decisive and clear cut. Conference participants at the Windhoek meeting in 1991 were chosen by journalists or newspapers themselves and not governments as before. This was a tremendous change as it saw civil society increasingly participating as decision makers in the media.

50. Mr Modoux said that the Windhoek Declaration document was not perfect, but it came from the hearts of the journalists and it spurred UNESCO to encourage the same climate of change in all the regions of the world. Thus, the Windhoek Declaration gave rise to the subsequent adoption of similar Declarations made in the rest of the world. But it was the Windhoek Declaration that was the pillar for the "wind of change" in the media world. So, it was African journalists who brought about change in UNESCO, the United Nations and the whole world.

51. He went on to point out that nobody changed a single word, not even a comma, in the Declaration when it reached the United Nations and that the process started in Windhoek led to World Press Freedom Day. Mr Modoux said that in spite of achievements, a lot was still to be done. This included policies and regulations that still hamper freedom of the press.

52. The President of the International Federation of Journalists, Mr Christopher Warren, said that the process of democratisation has not been a European phenomenon but that everybody played a role. It was important to understand the process, rather than just one conference held ten years ago, and that UNESCO’s role also needs to be recognized. The challenge now was to build institutions of the culture of democracy, without which democracy will not be achieved.

53. Mr Warren said that the concept of democracy has become unchallengeable and there had been a dramatic growth of NGOs committed to change and democracy. Changes had come in public broadcasting, which was becoming much freer than ten years ago, while there had also been growth in trade unions, in print, broadcasting and internet. He also noted that a credible media is one which reflects the needs of its country and which does not exclude women from decision making positions.

54. Mr Warren saw many challenges ahead, including a need to build culture of democracy institutions without which a free press will not be realized and sustained. There was also a need to recognize and appreciate that an independent press should reflect the community it serves and also that the increased exclusion of women in the media from senior positions does not tally with the tenets of the Windhoek Declaration. Public service broadcasting required strengthening and there was a need to recognize the impact of globalisation on the media. He concluded with a call for Internet to be made accessible to all.

55. Mr Andres Garcia Lavin, Director General of Grupo Sispe (Mexico), began his presentation by noting that a UNESCO/UN regional press freedom seminar in Santiago de Chile, brought together communication experts and news media professional bodies to study the development of the media and democracy in the region. The seminar resulted in the drafting of the Santiago Declaration that stressed democracy as a ‘sine qua non’ for harmony and development and the promotion of a diversity of news media outlets. The Santiago Declaration had denounced violence against journalists, as well as political and economic pressures on the press, and although Africa and Latin America had very different communication infrastructures, the Windhoek principles turned out to be applicable to press freedom in Latin America.

56. He said that, in the year 2000, under the leadership of UNESCO’s Freedom of Expression Programme, there has been another important achievement in broadcasting. UNESCO put together the long time leading broadcasters organization, the International Association of Broadcasting (IAB) with AMARC, to discuss IAB’s platform on legal access to the airwaves. Two meetings had so far taken place, and great progress has been made in finding consensus for all parties concerned.

57. Another speaker, Ms Rebeccah Nelems, from the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX), outlined the role of IFEX as a pluralistic network that provides a forum for discussion and debate, without losing sight of some of the underlying fundamental beliefs and tenets to which all its members subscribe. IFEX stands as a response to the Windhoek Declaration’s call for the international community to contribute to the achievement and implementation of the initiatives and projects set out in the Declaration’s Annex. IFEX has contributed to the “development of co-operation between media” in Africa and in other regions through the exchange of information. She said that IFEX is a testament to the possibility of solidarity and co-operation within a pluralistic, diverse and multi-national community and is also a testimony to the very strong commitment of many individuals and organizations to realize and fight for the tenets outlined in the Windhoek Declaration.

58. The final presentation was given by Mr William Parkinson, President of the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA), who said that there are similarities between the PINA Convention and the Windhoek Declaration. Journalists from the Pacific experience different challenges in the realization of the freedom of the press than those in Africa, but they are just as real. He said that UNESCO has provided training and equipment in the Pacific and that there had been a shift in the attitude of some donors towards development aid thanks to UNESCO which did a needs assessment survey and agreed with the recipients on their priorities. Now, other donors have started respecting the views of the recipients of the aid and support to NGOs is also increasing.
59. At the conclusion of the presentations, a wide range of comments and views were raised from the floor. These included:
· It was wise for UNESCO to not hold a global conference on press freedom, but concentrate on the regional ones held following the Windhoek Declaration.
· A global conference, however is due in 2003. It will be called the World Conference on the Information Society.
· Issues of developing the traditional media should take centre stage too.
· Concern was raised on how a lowly paid journalist would exercise independence and later on adhere to the professional ethics. The plenary noted that, indeed, most countries are experiencing economic hardships and therefore not in position to offer a decent living for journalists.
· In Cameroun, the Windhoek Declaration helped reinforce the fostering of a free press. There is a need to review the current relationship between NGOs and the media. Both should aim at working closely.
· A need to review the Florence Convention to see how UNESCO can use part of the Convention to make further progress in promotion of the media.
· It is important for various organizations within a country to reach an agreement or a common approach. When this is done, then UNESCO may find it easier to allocate the funds .
· It was noted that IPDC does not accept project proposals that do not promote pluralism.

FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS
PART 1

On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Windhoek Declaration on the Development of an Independent and Pluralistic African Press, we, journalists and other media professionals from Africa, joined by representatives and observers of international organisations and NGOs, gathered again in Windhoek, Republic of Namibia.

Through a three day meeting entitled The Windhoek Conference: Ten Years On: Assessment, Challenges and Prospects (3 – 5 May, 2001) we explored the decade which has elapsed since the Windhoek Declaration was adopted on 3 May, 1991.

At the official opening ceremony on World Press Freedom Day, we were addressed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Information and Broadcasting, representing the President of the Republic of Namibia, the Representative of the UN Secretary-General, the Director-General of UNESCO, the Representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the President of the UNESCO Advisory Group for Press Freedom and the Representatives of the CANO Foundation and the World Association of Newspapers. The UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize for 2001 was presented during the official opening ceremony.

In four conference sessions, we discussed Obstacles to Media Freedom in Africa (Plenary I) Public Service Broadcasting, Internet and Liberalization of Airwaves (Plenary II), Status of Journalists and Media professional Organizations (Plenary III) and the Impact of the Windhoek Declaration (Plenary IV).

Through a further three workshop sessions, we reviewed Political, Social and Economical Obstacles: Media Legislation, Ownership, Independence and Pluralism (Workshop I), New Communication and Information Technologies (Workshop II) and Status of Journalists and Media Professional Organizations (Workshop III).

By way of a keynote address and additional presentations on Insult Laws: an Insult to Press Freedom and Survey on Freedom on the Internet we further explored issues pertinent to the development of media in Africa.

Throughout our deliberations, we recognized that the political, economic and technological environment in which the Windhoek Declaration was adopted has changed significantly since 1991. In line with these changes, we call for issues such as community media, private and public service broadcasting, legislative frameworks, protection and safety of journalists, the right of journalists to form organisations, information and communication technologies (ICTs), and gender and the portrayal of women in media to be more fully addressed in the development of the media in Africa.

Acknowledging the enduring relevance and importance of the Windhoek Declaration to the protection and promotion of freedom of expression and of the media, at the conclusion of the conference and after substantive debate, during which various and different views and opinions were expressed, the participants proposed the following recommendations:

General Recommendations

1. We call on UNESCO to conduct a comprehensive review of States’ compliance with these Recommendations, to be published on the fifth anniversary of this Conference.
2. We support moves within the African Commission to appoint a Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression for Africa similar, to those already existing at the UN, OAS and OSCE.
3. We call upon national governments and the international community and donors to support regional initiatives and organisations which support freedom of expression.
4. The international community and donors should provide support to public media only where their independence is guaranteed in law and in practice.
5. The employment policies and practices of media houses and organisations should promote equal opportunities and equitable representation of women.
6. Professional codes of ethics should promote positive coverage of women’s issues.
7. Media professionals are encouraged to develop effective self-regulatory mechanisms to promote a higher degree of professionalism and ethical standards.
8. We call upon all international partners interested in upholding the Windhoek Declaration on the need for a diverse, pluralistic media to consider assisting private media enterprises directly, rather than through governments or government institutions.

Recommendations on Media legislation, Ownership, Independence and Pluralism

1. States should ensure that their constitutions guarantee the right to freedom of expression, freedom of the press, information and communication, in accordance with international law, that these rights are effectively protected through the courts, and that laws and practices which are inconsistent with these rights may be rendered of no force or effect.
2. States should comply with their international obligations in relation to human rights, including freedom of expression and information.
3. States should ensure full respect for the rule of law, including due process rights, an independent judiciary and protection against double jeopardy.
4. States should undertake a comprehensive, consultative review of all laws which affect freedom of expression with a view to repealing or amending those laws which are inconsistent with that right.
5. States should, in an open and participatory manner, develop communication and information policies designed to promote a diverse, pluralistic and free media.
6. Training on human rights and the importance and content of freedom of expression should be provided to judges and others responsible for the administration of justice
7. Criminal laws which protect reputations, such as defamation, libel and slander laws, should be repealed and, where necessary, replaced with civil laws.
8. Civil laws which protect reputations should provide for a defence of reasonableness even in case of error, should require the plaintiff to prove the falsity of any statements of fact, and remedies for breach of these laws should be designed to redress the harm to reputation, not to punish.
9. Special laws which criminalise criticism of judges, the courts and the administration of justice should be repealed.
10. Criminal laws on sedition and which prohibit the publication of “false news” should be repealed.
11. States should pass laws which provide for access to information held by public bodies, and to information required for the exercise or protection of any right held by private bodies, and such laws should be based on the principle of maximum and timely disclosure.
12. Restrictions on freedom of expression in the name of public order and national security should be imposed only where there is clear evidence of a significant risk of imminent harm to a legitimate interest and there is a close causal link between the risk of harm and the expression.
13. Freedom of expression includes the free flow of information regardless of frontiers and States should guarantee the right of journalists to travel to other countries, their right of entry and their right to report freely upon events in those countries.
14. States should promote an enabling economic environment for a free and pluralistic media, including through preferential taxes, and by ratifying and complying with the Florence and Beirut Agreements and their protocols.
15. States should not control print media and should divest themselves of any existing state or public print media.
16. States should provide resources, and create a conducive policy environment for the development of the media, of indigenous, national and cross-border languages, with a view to promoting the free flow of information, transparency in governance and the development of critical civil societies in the continent.

Recommendations on the Status of Journalists and Media Professional Organizations

1. Journalists are encouraged to form one strong organisation or union that can defend its members and protect them, rather than having a number of weaker groups. At the same time, it is important to have specialised groups which promote particular interests and which complement the broader objectives of umbrella organisations.
2. Journalists unions or organisations should endeavor to obtain collective bargaining agreements for their members where these agreements do not exist. Where they exist, unions and associations must insist that they are respected and implemented.
3. Greater collaboration must be encouraged between journalists unions and associations, and NGOs working for press freedom and the progress of the mass media.
4. The establishment of voluntary self-regulatory bodies by unions/associations promotes both professionalism and journalists’ independence, by helping to reduce governmental and other external interference. The establishment of these self-regulatory bodies should be encouraged, supported and strengthened.
5. Governments should ensure that legislation is in place which enables voluntary regulatory bodies to promote the independence of journalists, the media and journalists’ unions and associations, in conformity with international standards on media freedom and freedom of association.
6. The organisation of professional women journalists into distinct and identifiable associations should be encouraged and supported, including by journalists’ unions and associations.
7. Journalists’ unions and associations should promote the equal representation of women in leadership positions in media organisations. The journalists’ unions and associations should ensure that internally, there is at least one-third representation of women in leadership positions.
8. UNESCO and the international community should develop a Plan of Action for the rebuilding of the media, for the training of journalists, and for the establishment of viable and independent journalists organisations in countries in Africa that have suffered civil wars and other wars of destruction, such as Somalia, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. The Plan of Action should include the establishment of a monitoring and oversight mechanism.
9. Training of media professionals should be promoted for all types of media, old and new, mainstream and community. These activities should be supported at all levels, including in the development of curricula, research, educational material, and training of trainers. There is an urgent need for better networking of educational institutions at the continental, regional, and sub-regional levels.

PART 2

AFRICAN CHARTER ON BROADCASTING 2001

Acknowledging the enduring relevance and importance of the Windhoek Declaration to the protection and promotion of freedom of expression and of the media;

Noting that freedom of expression includes the right to communicate and access to means of communication;

Mindful of the fact that the Windhoek Declaration focuses on the print media and recalling Paragraph 17 of the Windhoek Declaration, which recommended that a similar seminar be convened to address the need for independence and pluralism in radio and television broadcasting;

Recognising that the political, economic and technological environment in which the Windhoek Declaration was adopted has changed significantly and that there is a need to complement and expand upon the original Declaration;

Aware of the existence of serious barriers to free, independent and pluralistic broadcasting and to the right to communicate through broadcasting in Africa;

Cognisant of the fact that for the vast majority of the peoples of Africa, the broadcast media remains the main source of public communication and information;

Recalling the fact that the frequency spectrum is a public resource which must be managed in the public interest;

We the Participants of Windhoek + 10 Declare that:

PART I: GENERAL REGULATORY ISSUES

1. The legal framework for broadcasting should include a clear statement of the principles underpinning broadcast regulation, including promoting respect for freedom of expression, diversity, and the free flow of information and ideas, as well as a three-tier system for broadcasting: public service, commercial and community.
2. All formal powers in the areas of broadcast and telecommunications regulation should be exercised by public authorities which are protected against interference, particularly of a political or economic nature, by, among other things, an appointments process for members which is open, transparent, involves the participation of civil society, and is not controlled by any particular political party.
3. Decision-making processes about the overall allocation of the frequency spectrum should be open and participatory, and ensure that a fair proportion of the spectrum is allocated to broadcasting uses.
4. The frequencies allocated to broadcasting should be shared equitably among the three tiers of broadcasting.
5. Licensing processes for the allocation of specific frequencies to individual broadcasters should be fair and transparent, and based on clear criteria which include promoting media diversity in ownership and content.
6. Broadcasters should be required to promote and develop local content, which should be defined to include African content, including through the introduction of minimum quotas.
7. States should promote an economic environment that facilitates the development of independent production and diversity in broadcasting.
8. The development of appropriate technology for the reception of broadcasting signals should be promoted.

PART II: PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING

1. All State and government controlled broadcasters should be transformed into public service broadcasters, that are accountable to all strata of the people as represented by an independent board, and that serve the overall public interest, avoiding one-sided reporting and programming in regard to religion, political belief, culture, race and gender.
2. Public service broadcasters should, like broadcasting and telecommunications regulators, be governed by bodies which are protected against interference.
3. The public service mandate of public service broadcasters should clearly defined.
4. The editorial independence of public service broadcasters should be guaranteed.
5. Public service broadcasters should be adequately funded in a manner that protects them from arbitrary interference with their budgets.
6. Without detracting from editorial control over news and current affairs content and in order to promote the development of independent productions and to enhance diversity in programming, public service broadcasters should be required to broadcast minimum quotas of material by independent producers.
7. The transmission infrastructure used by public service broadcasters should be made accessible to all broadcasters under reasonable and non-discriminatory terms.

PART III: COMMUNITY BROADCASTING

1. Community broadcasting is broadcasting which is for, by and about the community, whose ownership and management is representative of the community, which pursues a social development agenda, and which is non-profit.
2. There should be a clear recognition, including by the international community, of the difference between decentralised public broadcasting and community broadcasting.
3. The right of community broadcasters to have access to the Internet, for the benefit of their respective communities, should be promoted.

PART IV: TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND CONVERGENCE

1. The right to communicate includes access to telephones, email, Internet and other telecommunications systems, including through the promotion of community-controlled information communication technology centres.
2. Telecommunications law and policy should promote the goal of universal service and access, including through access clauses in privatisation and liberalisation processes, and proactive measures by the State.
3. The international community and African governments should mobilise resources for funding research to keep abreast of the rapidly changing media and technology landscape in Africa.
4. African governments should promote the development of online media and African content, including through the formulation of non-restrictive policies on new information and communications technologies.
5. Training of media practitioners in electronic communication, research and publishing skills needs to be supported and expanded, in order to promote access to, and dissemination of, global information.

PART V: IMPLEMENTATION

1. UNESCO should distribute the African Charter on Broadcasting 2001 as broadly as possible, including to stakeholders and the general public, both in Africa and worldwide.
2. Media organizations and civil society in Africa are encouraged to use the Charter as a lobbying tool and as their starting point in the development of national and regional broadcasting policies. To this end media organisations and civil society are encouraged to initiate public awareness campaigns, to form coalitions on broadcasting reform, to formulate broadcasting policies, to develop specific models for regulatory bodies and public service broadcasting, and to lobby relevant official actors.
3. All debates about broadcasting should take into account the needs of the commercial broadcasting sector.
4. UNESCO should undertake an audit of the Charter every five years, given the pace of development in the broadcasting field.
5. UNESCO should raise with member governments the importance of broadcast productions being given special status and recognised as cultural goods under the World Trade Organization rules.
6. UNESCO should take measures to promote the inclusion of the theme of media, communications and development in an appropriate manner during the UN Summit on the Information Society in 2003.