The 2nd African Media Convention will be organized by the Southern Africa Publishers Forum (SAEF) and the 16-member Media Liaison Committee (MLC) in Zambia, under the auspices of a steering committee and sub-committees formed by stakeholders in Media, UNESCO and the Union Commission.
The first such convention was held in Arusha, Tanzania in 2022 and was organized by the East African Society of Publishers (EAES) and the Tanzania Publishers Forum (TEF).
The event is in line with the 2023 WPFD global event, which will be held in New York, United States, marking 30 years since the decision of the UN General Assembly to proclaim 3 May as an international day for freedom of the press. The proclamation followed a recommendation from African editors, journalists and media educators who gathered in Windhoek at a UNESCO seminar in 1991.
The continent-wide media event will be chaired by the President of Zambia, Hakainde Hichilema.
The 2nd African Media Convention comes on the heels of the release of the first Assessment Report on Freedom of the Press and Safety of Journalists in Africa in November 2022, indicating a mix of achievements and challenges.
Some of the positive developments include the adoption of the AU Convention on Cyber Security and Data Protection, the revision of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa (2019) and the growth and emergence of new media across the continent.
In addition, Africa was the stage for the adoption of the Windhoek+30 Declaration in 2021, which emphasizes the need for all governments to create environments favorable to freedom of expression and access to information, both online and offline, in accordance with international guarantees. of those rights.
