14. As a sign of good faith, African Governments that have jailed journalists for their
professional activities should free them immediately. Journalists who have had to leave
their countries should be free to return to resume their professional activities.
15. Cooperation between publishers within Africa, and between publishers of the
North and South (for example through the principle of twinning), should be encouraged
and supported.
16. As a matter of urgency, the United Nations and UNESCO, and particularly the
International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC), should
initiate detailed research, in cooperation with governmental (especially UNDP) and
non-governmental donor agencies, relevant non-governmental organizations and
professional associations, into the following specific areas:
(i)

(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(v)

identification of economic barriers to the establishment of news media outlets,
including restrictive import duties, tariffs and quotas for such things as newsprint,
printing equipment, and typesetting and word processing machinery, and taxes on
the sale of newspapers, as a prelude to their removal;
training of journalists and managers and the availability of professional training
institutions and courses;
legal barriers to the recognition and effective operation of trade unions or
associations of journalists, editors and publishers;
a register of available funding from development and other agencies, the
conditions attaching to the release of such funds, and the methods of applying for
them;
the state of press freedom, country by country, in Africa.

17. In view of the importance of radio and television in the field of news and information,
the United Nations and UNESCO are invited to recommend to the General Assembly
and the General Conference the convening of a similar seminar of journalists and
managers of radio and television services in Africa, to explore the possibility of
applying similar concepts of independence and pluralism to those media.
18. The international community should contribute to the achievement and implementation
of the initiatives and projects set out in the annex to this Declaration.
19. This Declaration should be presented by the Secretary-General of the United Nations to
the United Nations General Assembly, and by the Director-General of UNESCO to the
General Conference of UNESCO.

So This Is Democracy? 2008

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Media Institute of Southern Africa

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