THE International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is supporting the "Access to information and transparency-training for journalists, media managers and government information and public relations officers" project.

The project is a collaboration between the Editors' Forum of Namibia and the Namibia Media Trust (NMT), which promotes press freedom, freedom of expression and access to information through strategic partnerships.

IPDC bureau rapporteur Peter Denk said Namibia is yet to adopt an access to information law, though the bill was tabled in parliament in June 2020 and referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information and Communication Technologies.

Denk said it is anticipated the consultation process will soon end after which the bill will be re-tabled and passed into law.

The Editors' Forum of Namibia is, therefore, positioning itself to help Namibian media deliver information for public good, as per the Windhoek +30 Declaration.

He said the project seeks to prepare Namibian journalists in various sectors, including print, electronic, social media and community journalists, media managers, government information officers, and public relations officers, with the necessary understanding of the access to information law to help them execute their role as custodians of democracy.

"These projects are in line with the IPDC's long-standing attention to the safety of journalists, gender equality and journalism education and capacity building and they were approved at the IPDC's annual bureau meeting held at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris on Thursday," said Denk.