African Media Advocates Gather to Discuss Access to Information and Freedom of Expression in the Post 2015 Agenda

11 November 2014
African Media Initiative (Nairobi)
press release

Nairobi — The Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD), an international association representing over 200 media development organisations across the world, and the African Media Initiative (AMI) will gather Africa's leading media associations, networks and NGOs in Nairobi this week to discuss the inclusion of freedom of expression and access to information in the UN's new Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's).

The new SDGs will replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDG's) when these come to an end in 2015.

The strategic prospect of recognising the media and society's rights of access to information and freedom of expression, and the pivotal role these values play in respect of development, will be under consideration by UN member states over the next year. The UN's Open Working Group proposed in June this year that the UN include a Sustainable Development Goal No. 16 to "achieve peaceful and inclusive societies, rule of law, effective and capable institutions" with a set of sub-goals to "improve public access to information and government data" and "promote freedom of media, association and speech."

But countries across the world, and also in Africa, need to be positively encouraged to accept the Open Working Group's recommendation.

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The purpose of the workshop is to discuss communication and engagement by media associations and networks with African governments at national and inter-governmental levels to emphasise the strategic link between development and open governance. This includes the role of the media in facilitating a continuous and honest discourse between government and society on all matters of public interest.

Organisations in attendance will include The African Editors' Forum (TAEF), the African Media Initiative (AMI), the African Platform on Access to Information (APAI), the African Freedom of Expression Exchange (AFEX), the Federation of African Journalists (FAJ), the various Panos Institutes in Africa, as well as a number of international media organisations including UNESCO, Article 19 and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). The Workshop is supported by Deutsche Welle Academy and funded by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.

This workshop is part of the global advocacy campaign "Access to information and free media: A development priority". Watch the video.

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