Seven Countries agree to establish national mechanisms for safety of Journalists in Eastern Africa.

 The Co-Chair of the Kenya Media Sector Working Group Eric Oduor{R} with other panelists during the two-day regional conference on the National Mechanisms for safety of Journalists in Eastern Africa held early this week in Nairobi.Seven Countries in Eastern Africa have agreed to establish national mechanisms for the safety of Journalists in their countries- Photo By Dickson Odhiambo.

By Dickson Odhiambo.

November 16, 2017.

Seven Countries agree to establish national mechanisms for safety of Journalists in Eastern Africa.

SEVEN Countries in Eastern Africa have agreed to establish national mechanisms for the safety of Journalists in their countries.

The seven countries are Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Somalia, Rwanda, and South Sudan.

The national mechanisms on safety of the journalists will be established in those countries while taking into account of the different country’s context.

This emerged after the deliberations held during the first Eastern Africa regional conference on the safety of Journalists organized by UNESCO in Nairobi that ended on Tuesday this week.

During the last day of the conference, the seven  countries discussed and adopted the document known as Nairobi Declaration on National Mechanisms for the safety of Journalists.

The national Mechanisms shall seek to bring together all the actors including the three branches of their governments  that the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary, Associations of the Journalists and media workers, Lawyers  Associations, Civil Societies/Human Rights Defenders, Journalism Training and Research Institutions and Media regulatory bodies.

Others will include NGOs, INGOs, relevant United Nations Agencies, Programs and Funds, Bilateral and International Media Development partners and other friends of the media as may be invited.

For overall regional coordination, the countries have agreed to form an inclusive Eastern Africa stakeholders Committee for the safety of Journalists shall be established, bringing on board the existing mechanisms at the regional and national and national level.

The sole role of the committee will be to coordinate, Mobilize resources, share best practices, support and monitor the progress of the National Safety Mechanism.

The overall mandate of the National Mechanisms for safety of Journalists in Eastern Africa will be to develop a national multi-stakeholders coordination system for monitoring and reporting of crimes against journalists in line with the national, regional, and Global resolutions such as the resolution 29 of the UNESCO General Conference 29^th Session in Paris in November 1997 that invited the UNESCO Director General to condemn violence against Journalists in Member states.

“The multi-stakeholder coordination mechanism will also provide a platform for knowledge sharing, prevention, protection and accountability. It will include dedicated units for preventing crimes against journalists, Protecting Journalists and support and follow-up mechanisms to ensure prosecution of the perpetrators,” part of the document says.

The other overall mandate will be to coordinate with the Eastern Africa Stakeholders Committee on Safety of Journalists in mobilizing adequate resources to support the national mechanisms as well as establishing thematic areas that comprehensively address the safety of Journalists in the respective countries with specific terms of reference and targets for each thematic group.

The Nairobi Declaration on the need to establish the National Mechanisms for the safety of Journalists in Eastern Africa comes in the wake of reports that there are increased cases about intimidation, harassment and attacks on Journalists hence the need to come up with such mechanisms meant to protect Journalists.

In spite of the many efforts by the UNESCO Member states to address safety of journalists concerns and even with the many resolutions that have been passed globally, media violations have increased at an alarming rate especially in post conflict and countries in conflict.

Yet, according to the UN Plan of Action on Safety of Journalists and issue of Impunity crimes against Journalists are multifaceted and cannot be addressed by a single organization.

It requires a multi-stakeholder approach, involving all the actors both at the Global and Country level to comprehensively address the three P,s that is Prevent violence against Journalists, Protect the Journalists in danger and Prosecute the perpetrators.

On the other hand, Sustainable Development Goal{SDG} number 16 also requires all countries to demonstrate progress in ensuring public access to information and protecting fundamental freedoms, which includes the Right to Freedom of Expression and safety of Journalists.

In the Eastern African region, an overall trend of a shrinking space for media freedom has been observed specifically violations against media practitioners have been ongoing without a dedicated focal person or a proper mechanism within the government institutions to report and address these concerns.

This therefore results to the issue of safety of Journalists not being given the attention it deserves since there is also a communication breakdown between the affected journalists and the government body that should be providing the required media safety.

This therefore calls for an urgent need to develop a comprehensive formal national mechanism to promote the safety of Journalists in Eastern African region.

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