The ECOWAS Commission has assured the West African Journalists Association (WAJA) of its commitment to continue their collaboration in furthering the interest of the profession as a mechanism for improving media practice in the region and using the media to realize its 2020 vision for a citizen-based organization.
In a message to a three-day strategic planning and validation workshop and WAJA's 7th congress which ended in Dakar on Wednesday, 28th April, 2010, Dr. Adrienne Diop, the ECOWAS Director of Communications said that as an organization that represents the collective will of the 230 million citizens of West Africa for improved standard of living, ECOWAS will continue to partner with WAJA and similar strategic institutions through the provision of valuable support.
She added that such support particularly in the area of capacity building is borne out of the conviction that elevated journalism practice can only be realized through concerted stakeholder effort as this would ultimately improve the tone of journalism practice in the region She then challenged West African journalists to join WAJA in the fight against the contemporary challenges confronting journalism practice in the region particularly the diminishing capacity of journalists unions caused by the dearth of resources and its impact on the media environment.
This situation, she added, has assumed greater urgency as some unions have been forced into the embrace of unethical practice in a desperate effort to survive a cash crunch occasioned by dwindling financial contributions by members. While such recourse may seem convenient, the Director who is also the ECOWAS Commissioner for Gender and Human Development said, it presents an obvious moral dilemma for the practitioners against the context of their onerous responsibility as the fourth estate of the realm.
She then called on members to religiously contribute to sustaining their union in order to insulate practitioners from the predatory instincts of outside and contrary interests. Moreover, she condemned the worrisome tendency by practitioners to become tools for canvassing partisan, ethnic and other interests contrary to the professional ethos that should guide their practice, a tendency that has fostered a partisan press that promote a climate of hatred and tension which have been observed in some Member States particularly during electioneering.
She added that ECOWAS hosted a workshop in Accra last year which among other things agreed on the formation of a media network to address this matter, adding "we are not under any illusion that we can solely overcome this trend without the contributions of other stakeholders" while urging WAJA to join in the crusade against such vices that have the capacity to further drag the image of the practice into disrepute and its credibility.
She then reiterated the readiness of the ECOWAS Commission to collaborate with WAJA in confronting these monsters so that the media can be restored to its pride of place as a credible source of unbiased and untainted news that the public can trust in making judgments on issues within the polity. She also called on them to elect an executive that would revitalize the association for the benefit of the members of the practice of the profession.
During the three-day meeting which was co-sponsored by the ECOWAS Commission, participants examined the four year strategic plan (2010-2014) which will cover WAJA institutional development; capacity building of the leadership and management bodies, associations and trade unions of WAJA; the defense and the promotion of press freedom and the safety of journalists and reinforcement of partnerships.
They also elected a new executive committee headed by Mr. Garba Mohamed while Mr. Cande Mamadu and Mr. Pierre Dabire were elected first and second Vice Presidents respectively. Mrs. Khady Diatou Cissé was elected Secretary General while Kadiatou Jalloh and Credo Tetteh were elected first and second Assistant Secretary General respectively. Mr. Peter Quaqua was elected treasurer. Representatives of the International Federation of the Journalists (IFJ), African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), UNESCO, Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), and the West African Civil Society Organizations attended the meeting.
