African Charter on Broadcasting There have been significant gains in media freedom in Africa since the adoption of the Windhoek Declaration on Promoting an Independent and Pluralistic African Press in 1991. However, the declaration focused primarily on the promotion of the print media and was silent on issues such as broadcasting liberalisation and the globalisation of the communications industry. These issues have far reaching social and economic implications for media freedom and threaten to jeopardize the production of media that reflects Africa’s rich cultural diversity. A representative group of African media practitioners sought to address these concerns at a UNESCO conference called to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the original Windhoek Declaration. The result was the African Charter on Broadcasting, which serves as a modern blueprint for policies and laws determining the future of broadcasting and information technology in Africa. We the Participants of Windhoek+10 Declare that: Acknowledging the enduring relevance and importance of the Windhoek Declaration to the protection and promotion of freedom of expression and of the media; Noting that freedom of expression includes the right to communicate and access to means of communication; Mindful of the fact that the Windhoek Declaration focuses on the print media and recalling Paragraph 17 of the Windhoek Declaration, which recommended that a similar seminar be convened to address the need for independence and pluralism in radio and television broadcasting; Acknowledging the enduring relevance and importance of the Windhoek Declaration to the protection and promotion of freedom of expression and of the media; Noting that freedom of expression includes the right to communicate and access to means of communication; Mindful of the fact that the Windhoek Declaration focuses on the print media and recalling Paragraph 17 of the Windhoek Declaration, which recommended that a similar seminar be convened to address the need for independence and pluralism in radio and television broadcasting; Recognising that the political, economic and technological environment in which the Windhoek Declaration was adopted has changed significantly and that there is a need to complement and expand upon the original Declaration; Aware of the existence of serious barriers to free, independent and pluralistic broadcasting and to the right to communicate through broadcasting in Africa; Cognisant of the fact that for the vast majority of the peoples of Africa, the broadcast media remains the main source of public communication and information; Recalling the fact that the frequency spectrum is a public resource which must be managed in the public interest. So This Is Democracy? 2008 -297- Media Institute of Southern Africa