freedom and non-discrimination. Advocate and advance gender equality to redress imbalances in the media and society. MISA’s history and legal status MISA was established in 1992 as a non-governmental organisation (NGO) and registered as a Trust in Windhoek, Namibia following the adoption of the 1991 Windhoek Declaration on Promoting an Independent and Pluralistic African Press. MISA seeks to contribute to the implementation of this declaration in the SADC region. MISA operations are conducted by its Regional Secretariat based in Windhoek, Namibia which is guided by the Regional Governing Council made up of the Regional Council Chairperson and the chairpersons of the national chapters. The MISA Trust Funds Board, which is autonomous, has oversight over the financial and objectives of the organisation. MISA currently has national chapters in 11 SADC countries – Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Each national chapter is serviced by a national secretariat under the guidance of the National Governing Council. Membership in MISA is open to individual media practitioners, media houses and associations who join MISA at national level. MISA’s main achievements are in the areas of media freedom monitoring and the issuing of action alerts highlighting violations of this right in the southern African region. It has campaigned for an enabling environment for media to operate freely as part of a democratic system. During the last 14 years, MISA has provided skills training opportunities for many media workers in the region. Over 600 journalists and media practitioners and managers have received training in computer aided and internet research, editorial and circulation management, financial and strategic management, project, marketing and business management, community radio management, thematic reporting skills training (financial, economic, elections and gender). During this period over 80 journalists and media practitioners and managers took part in the MISA exchange programme, allowing them the opportunity to learn new skills or improve on existing ones outside their place of employment and mostly in another southern African country. MISA has sponsored over 24 journalists and media managers to attended Highway Africa, the premier ICT annual event hosted by Rhodes University for the last 5 years. In line with the 1991 Windhoek Declaration, MISA established the Southern Africa Media Development Fund (SAMDEF) which provides media businesses with loan and venture capital and the Southern Africa Institute of Media Entrepreneurial Development (SAIMED) which offers media management training and development services. MISA’s activities and programmes From April 2002, MISA work has been centred on five programme areas as identified by its members and elaborated in its Strategic Partnership Programme April 1, 2002 to March 31, 2005. These are: 1. Freedom of Expression and Right to Information Campaign: which seeks to campaign for citizens to embrace their right to be informed through unhindered access to information. Laws and policies that militate against these rights will be challenged and grassroots campaigns on So This Is Democracy? 2008 -286- Media Institute of Southern Africa