west africa: PARTNERSHIP INITIATIVE ON MEDIA AND PEACE needed

PARTNERSHIP INITIATIVE ON MEDIA AND PEACE IN WEST AFRICA

Introduction
The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) and the International Media Support (IMS) of Copenhagen, in collaboration with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and UNESCO, held a three-day regional Media and Peace programme planning meeting in Accra, Ghana, from July 8 – 10, 2003. The meeting examined the current situation, role and fate of the media within the context of the protracted civil strifes and violent conflicts that, directly or indirectly, afflict all of the countries in West Africa today. The meeting also reviewed initiatives and programmes that exist in the region, and proposed new directions and strategies for a regional programme for improving the capacity and role of the media to promote peace.

The meeting was attended by 26 representatives of 19 national, regional and international media and human rights organizations. The diverse backgrounds and experiences of participants enabled the deliberations of the meeting to be informed by the different situational needs and realities, and provided the basis for a number of decisions and recommendations for short-, medium- and long-term interventions.

The other organisations participating in the meeting included:
The Media Rights Agenda, Lagos;
The Panos Institute West Africa, Dakar;
The Press Union of Liberia;
The Sierra Leone Association of Journalists;
The Guinea Association of Independent Press Editors, Conakry;
The Association of Journalists for Peace in Cote d’Ivoire;
The National Press Commission, Abidjan;
The Media Ethics Observatory of Cote d’Ivoire;
The Media Action International, Geneva;
The International Federation of Journalists, Brussels.

Issues:
Among the broad issues discussed include:
· The needs and challenges imposed by the evolving conflicts call for the collaborative commitment of organisations active in the region working on media and peace; the mobilisation and deployment of intervention strategies along a common, coordinated and comprehensive platform;
· Some conflict situations have abated or ended (e.g., Sierra Leone); some are sporadic or occasional (e.g., Nigeria). But the raging conflict situations in Liberia and Cote d’Ivoire require urgent and particular attention. Therefore, although intervention strategies must have wider regional implications and applicability, Liberia and Cote d’Ivoire deserve focussed attention;
· Programmes of intervention and support must be based on an appreciation and acknowledgment of the potential of national and regional media institutions, as well as the rights and obligations of journalists, to promote peace and help reduce the conditions for violent conflict;
· While maintaining and encouraging the particular initiatives of individual organizations, to define clearly areas and strategies for common actions and coordination;
· Encouragement of and determination of strategies and program of collaboration with UN agencies in peace building programmes;
· Strategies for fundraising; definition of roles; plans for managing the collaborative processes without instituting new and unnecessary organisational structures.

Needs and recommendations:
Among the needs identified for both short- and long- term interventions are:
Short-term:
· The general protection, safety and rehabilitation of traumatised and war-affected journalists;
· Media infrastructure rehabilitation and capacity-building (through training workshops and seminars as well as institutional strengthening support systems);
· Mechanism for safe havens for journalists fleeing reprisals;
· Empowerment and capacity-building:(through logistic support and provision of basic functional equipment; including recorders, tapes; mobile phones, laptops, stationery, etc);
· Training and workshops for journalists in improved coverage of peace building, national reconciliation, the transitional processes, and elections coverage;

Medium-to-long-term:
Medium and medium-to-long term needs of the media in the conflict zones and the sub-region generally include:
· Continuous training and orientation programmes for journalists on how to cover conflict situations and promote peace;
· Development of safe havens and legal defence funds for media practitioners and journalist victims of war and/or other violent political conflicts;
· Baseline needs assessment studies to identify practical needs and recommend intervention strategies;
· Legislative and institutional reforms to promote media freedom and independence as a necessary condition for efficient media coverage for peace;
· Encouraging media pluralism through legislative reform, institutional rehabilitation and capacity building of media enterprises;
· Mid-career training support for journalists (in professional ethics, human rights and investigative reporting) and editors and proprietors (in the development of media as professional and independent enterprises).

The MFWA and the IMS are working to complete the draft of the envisaged proposal document for the regional programme on Media and Peace. The final document, to be approved by all the participants, will be a basis for the UN agencies to develop their policies and programs for Media and Peace making in the region.

Kwame Karikari
MFWA
Accra.