UN Envoy Says UNMIL Isn’t Leaving Liberia Just Yet

UN Envoy Says UNMIL Isn't Leaving Liberia Just Yet

The Special Representative of the Secretary General and Coordinator of UN Operations in Liberia, Karin Landgren has once again lauded the country’s progress towards sustainable peace, observing that the UNMIL could now focus on a gradual handover of security responsibilities to the host Government.

However, “this does not mean that UNMIL is leaving tomorrow,” the SRSG stressed at a medal parade held on 10 October 2012 in Zwedru, Grand Gedeh County for the 558-strong Chinese Contingent.   “Liberia’s security and stability remains our top priority. The Mission is working closely with the Liberian National Police, the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization, and other security agencies to ensure that they have sufficient capacity to assume full responsibility for Liberia’s security.

On the occasion, SRSG Landgren praised the Chinese Engineer Company in Zwedru for helping with the development and maintenance of road infrastructure in southeastern Liberia. “This has demonstrated your dedication and commitment to tackle seemingly impossible tasks. The roads and bridges that you have repaired, have facilitated the travel of children to schools, the movement of goods by traders to markets, and provided access to services such as health centers ,police stations and court houses  - all of which help in moving Liberia forward in its development.”

She also acknowledged efforts by the Chinese Transport Company that ferries vital supplies to UNMIL components in the furthest reaches of the Mission.

These commendations were further extended to the Level II Hospital in Zwedru for providing medical services to ensure the health and welfare of peacekeepers and for reaching out to the local community with medical assistance.

The UN Envoy was accompanied by UNMIL Force Commander Major General Mohammed Khalid, UNMIL Force Chief of Staff, Brig. Gen. Hugh Van Roosen, and other senior UNMIL military and civilian personnel. The medal parade was also attended among others, by the Chief of Staff of AFL, Maj. Gen. Suraj Alao Abdurrahman, China’s Ambassador to Liberia, Mr. Zhao Jianhua , and the Defense Attaché at the Chinese Embassy, Sr. Col. Zhao Xizhang.

African Timber Exporting Countries Failing to Meet Access to Information Commitments

African Timber Exporting Countries Failing to Meet Access to Information Commitments

Lack of transparency threatens groundbreaking trade agreements with EU

Governments of African timber exporters are not providing crucial public access to information about how their forests are managed, according to a Global Witness study published today. The study, released at a conference held at the European Parliament analyses the transparency commitments in agreements between Cameroon, Ghana and Liberia and European countries put in place to ensure the timber trade is legal. Too often, it finds people are kept in the dark about what is happening to their forests, a violation of the terms of these groundbreaking agreements.

David Young, a forest campaigner at Global Witness said, “Forests are different from other resources because people live in them and are completely reliant on them. But at present these people can’t see what deals are being done and who benefits. This is a big problem in an industry with a long history of corruption and human rights abuses. The EU needs to work with Cameroon, Ghana and Liberia to make sure the information is available, otherwise people will have no way of knowing how the timber was obtained and whether this was done legally.”

The agreements – known as Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) – between timber-exporting countries and the European Union include new, binding requirements for government authorities to publish key information on deals and decisions about forests. The first step of sharing information is a necessary precursor to more fundamental reforms to ensure only legal timber reaches the European market.

Global Witness has worked with anti-corruption forest watchdog groups in Cameroon, Ghana and Liberia to assess compliance with their respective VPAs. Although the context and the status of VPA implementation differs in each country, none of these countries are currently fully meeting their commitments to public information and transparency.

Mathew Walley, who is representing forest communities from Liberia at the conference, has seen at first hand the effects of access to information being denied: “People feel cheated. We see log trucks leaving their forests, but despite our requests, no one tells us how much and what species, so how can we know we are being paid the correct amount for the timber?”

Samuel Mawutor of Ghana’s Forest Watch coalition said, “Too often, information is requested from the Forestry Commission, but whether officials make it available depends on who is requesting the information and why. If there was more information we could all work together in stopping illegalities in the sector.”

The report found that local communities are often unable to access key data and documents, or authorities are reluctant to provide timely information. In some areas, for example, officials have delayed providing details while continuing to allocate permits that risk undermining compliance with the European agreements.

Major reforms in information management and dissemination are needed if implementation of the VPAs is going to lead the way to overcoming endemic illegal logging. Many documents and data could be published immediately, without waiting for VPA implementation.

David Young concluded, “These agreements with the EU could be a game changer in terms of including the people that live in forests in decisions about what happens to them. But it’ll only work if the governments in question play by the rules, and this study shows that’s not happening at present. We’d love to be proved wrong – if any government authority, in Europe or timber exporting countries, can point us to publicly accessible sources of this information, we’d be happy to announce this.”

The Gordon N. Fisher Fellowship at Massey College in the University of Toronto

Objective . . . to encourage improvement in journalism by offering to qualified men and women an opportunity to broaden their horizons by studying in a university setting

Journalists for Human Rights, an international media development organization based in Toronto, is delighted to announce a new partnership with Massey College in the University of Toronto to offer a new fellowship for a journalist from Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, or Malawi, to be awarded in 2011 and tenable for one academic year, September to May, at the University of Toronto.

Fellows are selected first by jhr country directors and then by a committee of leading Canadian journalists and headed by the Master of Massey College. The successful applicant is chosen for professional competence and future potential as an effective and responsible journalist. Both male and female applicants are encouraged to apply.

Applicants must have at least five years’ experience and be full-time news or editorial employees with local newspapers, news services, radio, television, or magazines. Freelance journalists who have been working consistently in the media over a five-year period will also be considered.They should be curious, engaged, smart, preferably extroverted, able to adapt to life in a cold climate for several months, open to learning from a new and unfamiliar culture, and interested in building their profile internationally.

Fellows are free to enrol in any graduate or undergraduate courses at the University of Toronto and use of its many facilities. They will be housed at Massey College, a multi-disciplinary graduate residential college in the centre of Toronto. There are no educational prerequisites for a Fellowship; Fellows do not receive credits or degrees for work done during the year.

The program typically requires auditing at least two academic courses a semester; one academic course must be taken in full and all assignments completed.

In a parallel, extra-curricular program, the Fisher Fellow will meet regularly with his or her Canadian counterparts in informal seminars to discuss contemporary issues with personalities from a wide variety of professions, and will participate in full in any trips organized as part of the program.

To obtain the maximum benefit from the program, applicants agree to refrain from professional work, including writing and broadcasting, during the period of the Fellowship. Personal holidays and travelare restricted to University holiday periods.

The Fellowships underwrite: (1)an eight-month stipend that will replicate the successful applicant’s salary along with any costs associated with the program. The first monthly installment will commence with an end-September payment and conclude with the end-April payment; (2) all university fees; (3) travel expenses up to the cost of economy air fare to and from Toronto for the Fellow; (4) travel expenses for organized trips during the program; and (5) a winter clothing allowance. Please note there is no provision for including family members in this program.

Applications must include a proposal for a plan of study, a statement of the applicant’s experience, a c.v., samples of work and letters of reference.Applicants will first be screened by jhr’s country director before being sent on to head office.

Applications are due January 15th, 2010 and must be sent to the following addresses:

Liberia lkpargoi@yahoo.com , attention Lamii Kpargoi

Sierra Leone stephen.douglas@yahoo.ca , attention Stephen Douglas

Ghana and Malawi jenny@jhr.ca , attention Jenny Vaughan

DRCongo Kinshasa@jhr.ca attention Freddy Mata

Funding for the Fisher Fellowships has been provided by a generous gift from the Alva Foundation to honour the late Gordon N. Fisher, a noted Canadian publisher of the South Press. Administration of the Fellowship will be supported by Journalists for Human Rights and Massey College, the host organization in Canada.

PRESS STATEMENT ON THE TAEF BAMAKO CONFERENCE

PRESS STATEMENT ON THE TAEF BAMAKO CONFERENCE

October 11 2010

On Wednesday October 14, 180 delegates comprising the most senior African editors, editorial executives and media trainers will gather in Bamako, Mali, for the opening of the fourth conference of The African Editors’ Forum (Taef).

Under the theme of Media and the Challenge of Peace in Africa, the conference is being held in conjunction with the African Union’s Peace and Security Commission and will interrogate the impact of war on journalists as well as the coverage of peace-making and peace-keeping efforts. The AU has declared 2010 the Year of Peace.

Sponsored by MTN, the conference will also look at how the standard of journalism and the quality thereof become scapegoats for those bent on muzzling journalists. A panel including development activists, media freedom activists, ombudspersons and editors will discuss this subject.

“The intention is to broaden the debate around the standard and quality of journalism from the narrow confines of getting the facts right to also include whether media in Africa has the capacity to do holistic coverage of the intricacies of African life: from the development initiatives that are seeing economies grow, to its politics, cultures and the wars that ravage its soul,” outgoing TAEF Chairperson Mathatha Tsedu said.

One of the highlights of the conference will be the honouring of African political leaders who are seen to have created media-friendly environments during their terms of office. These include former Presidents Nelson Mandela, John Kufuor of Ghana and Alpha Konare of Mali; past Chairperson of the AU Commission, Thabo Mbeki; and Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who in her short term has already passed the Freedom of Information Act. All five have been declared “Friends of the Media in Africa”.

President Johnson Sirleaf is sending her Deputy President and a Minister to receive her award, while Mandela’s award will be collected by Professor Njabulo Ndebele, a member of the Foundation. Mrs Zanele Mbeki, who is involved with Women Development, will represent her husband and also participate in a panel on the standards of journalism.

At the same ceremony four editors – three of whom were killed by suspected government agents in different countries, one missing for over five years after being abducted by security agents in The Gambia, and another who suffered detentions and torture in the hands of police before dying in a car accident – will also be honoured and remembered.

At the conference, Highway Africa will launch its new programme, the Reporting Development Network Africa (RDNA). RDNA seeks to improve the quality of reporting on developmental issues via training and discussion fora.

The conference will end with a visit to the Timbuktu world heritage site where manuscripts predating colonialism are being restored and kept in the Ahmed Baba Institute of Higher Learning and Islamic Research.

The 180 delegates come from 36 countries.

Press Union of Liberia Alarms at Justice Ministry’s Chicanery

-Freedom of Information and Other Media Laws Stymied in Parliament

(Monrovia - 20 August 2009) The Press Union of Liberia says it has been reliably informed that the Justice Ministry is requesting the withdrawal of the three bills currently before the Legislature for its input.

PUL in a reaction says it is utterly dismay that the Liberian Government would raise such arguments at this time after so much work and resources have been put into the drafting of the laws with the full participation of the Ministries of Information and Justice.

While charging the House Committee on Information for the unwarranted delay in reintroducing the bill in plenary, the Union says the latest development exposes the government’s deception to the partnership on the laws and seems to be a part of a larger conspiracy to lock the bills in committee room.

The Union reveals that it will not withdraw the laws, but if the Justice Ministry has any additional inputs to make to the laws, they have the option to do so through the legislature and forget about the bills been withdrawn.

The Union says it is aware of the counter lobby against the bills by people who want to protect their vested interest and was not altogether surprised by the distraction from the Justice Ministry.

The statement reminded the lawmakers of the challenge to them from US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton to ensure that the democratic process works and calls on the legislature to stop sleeping on very important bills that speak to the democratic governance of the country.

The Union argues that The Freedom of Information Act, The Independent Broadcast Regulator and the Bill to transform to a Public Service Broadcaster which were submitted to the legislature since last April, are not for the exclusive empowerment of the media and should be seen as a compliment to government’s efforts for greater openness and accountability.

In a separate development, the PUL has commended President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf for appointing one of its former officials – Cllr. Bedor Wla Freeman to serve as Chairman on the National Human Rights Commission.

Though it acknowledges the composition of the entire Commission, the Union says it is particularly honored that President Sirleaf would recognize the exemplary qualities of Cllr. Freeman to choose him from among other qualified Liberians for this very critical national assignment.

“We congratulate the former President for his preferment, but urges Cllr. Freeman to live up the confidence and refuse to be drawn into any act that will compromise the public trust,” the PUL statement added.

STATEMENT BY THE AFRICAN EDITORS FORUM ON MEDIA REPRESSION IN SUDAN

STATEMENT BY THE AFRICAN EDITORS FORUM ON MEDIA REPRESSION IN SUDAN

 

This week, the repression of media in Sudan reached its climax with the arrest of 63 journalists from thirteen newspaper who were protesting against lack of freedom for media under the government of President Omar Al Bashir.

As a result 11 newspaper suspended publication for one day in solidarity with the detained journalists.

The arrests followed two weeks of hunger strike by journalists and editors protesting against heightened repression of media, leaving many publications unable to appear in the streets of Kharthoum.

These incidents of repression include:

 

• The turning of what was supposed to be a defender of media freedom,  the National Press Council and Publication Commission, into an arm and agent of the security establishment in oppressing the media.
• Arrests, intimidation, confiscation of news gathering equipment and even confiscation and burning of publications destined for circulation over the past six months. At times we are not even allowed to take pictures of the President himself.
• Journalists are only allowed to take pictures of President al Bashir, while in general they are only allowed to take pictures during public holidays and not any other times. They are not allowed even to carry a camera or even a tape recorder in public, one cannot even take photos of accident scenes without permission from relevant authorities.
• Halting of publications by a number of newspapers as the Intelligence Service personnel raid them and also confiscate newspapers. These intelligence operatives have also demanded that all articles be scrutinized and approved by themselves before being published. Some editors have opted to instead not publish rather than submit to censorship.

 

This week, in the twin city of Kharthoum known as Omdurman , a group of journalists led by Sudanese Journalists Network (SJNet),were protesting outside Parliament when trucks of police and soldiers rounded them up and arrested them. Some, including women, were molested, others physically assaulted and they are up to now still nursing serious bruises. But even this relative freedom from police cells amounts to nothing as each one of them is tailed by intelligence operatives.

 

The government of President Al Bashir, faced with an election next year, is seemingly feeling that the media is exposing too much corruption in government to the public, a situation that they apparently believe could impact negatively on them come next year's elections and referendum.

 

President al Bashir is already being sought for crimes against humanity and the country is already a pariah amongst nations for its alleged support for the janjaweed militia in Darfur whose attacks on civilians has seen thousands killed and many more uprooted.

 

But it is a member of the African Union and a signatory to its charter and protocols that guarantee the people of Sudan a free media to inform and educate them. The oppression of media in Sudan is in violation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and interim constitution, which included the Bill of Rights.

The AU provisions include:

• To promote democratic principles and institutions, popular participation and good governance;
• To promote and protect human and peoples' rights in accordance with the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and other relevant human rights instruments; 
• In addition to the AU provisions, Sudan should establish the Human Rights Commission in compliance with the Paris principles agreed to by the government and as it is articulated in the Sudanese Constitution and CPA.

What the government of Sudan is doing is flouting these protocols that it has committed itself to and we call on the government to desist from further actions against the media, and to engage with the media in ensuring good relations and a free flow of information to the Sudanese people.

TAEF also calls on the AU Commission on Human and People's Rights presently meeting in Nigeria, and in particular the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, Advocate Pansy Tlakula, to immediately condemn the barbaric actions of the Sudanese government and take appropriate steps to end the harassment of the media.

TAEF will be approaching the Sudanese government for an urgent meeting to discuss this issue

Mathatha Tsedu

Président TAEF

 +27824540527…

mtsedu@media24.com

 --

Cheriff Moumina SY

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 13, 2008

  CONTACT: Dawn Arteaga, Communications Director

Telephone 202.349.7624, E-mail darteaga@icfj.org

International Center for Journalists Receives Funding to Improve News Coverage of Poverty and Development Issues in Africa

 

Three-year program, supported by a $2 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is aimed at spurring better public policy
 by increasing media attention on the needs of Africa's poorest people

 

Washington, DC -- The International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) has announced an innovative three-year program, the African Development Journalism Fellowships, to improve news coverage of critical development issues such as agriculture, microfinance, sanitation and employment in sub-Saharan Africa. This journalism fellowship program is funded by a $2 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

 

The program addresses the need for increased information about rural regions, which are affected by policy decisions made in capital cities. Many news organizations in sub-Saharan Africa lack the resources and training to adequately cover rural issues that can determine whether their countries' poorest citizens begin to prosper or remain trapped in poverty.

 

ICFJ will place media development professionals from its Knight International Journalism Fellowships program into key African countries to help influential media increase coverage of development issues, especially beyond the capitals. The program will create networks of professional and citizen journalists in rural areas, using mobile technology to connect them to media in large cities.

 

The program builds on the success of ICFJ's Knight Health Journalism Fellowships, also funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Health Fellows work in Africa for a year to improve coverage of complicated health and research issues.

 

In this new initiative, media organizations will work with fellows to mentor reporters as they work on in-depth development stories in rural areas. The fellows will also develop a corps of African journalists with the skills to train colleagues to cover poverty and development issues. Additionally, fellows will help establish development reporting training programs at local journalism associations that will continue long after the program is over.

 

"Our Knight Health Fellows are mentoring African journalists to produce hard-hitting stories that are forcing governments to invest more in health care," said ICFJ President Joyce Barnathan. "We believe these new fellows, using the latest mobile technology, will have similar impact in reducing poverty."

 

Alberto Ibargüen, president and CEO of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, announced the new grant at the ICFJ Awards Dinner Nov. 12.

 

Since 1994, the Knight Foundation has supported ICFJ's flagship program, the Knight International Journalism Fellowships. This program makes tangible changes that improve the quality and free flow of news around the world in the public interest. The program sends international media professionals for at least a year to countries where there are opportunities to promote reliable, insightful journalism that holds officials accountable.

 

For more information about the African Development Journalism Fellowships, please visit icfj.org/development.

About the International Center for Journalists
ICFJ is a non-profit, professional organization dedicated to promoting quality journalism worldwide in the belief that independent, vigorous media are crucial in improving the human condition. Aiming to raise the standards of journalism, ICFJ offers hands-on training workshops, seminars, fellowships and international exchanges to journalists and media managers around the globe.

About the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people's health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people--especially those with the fewest resources--have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.

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