MISA launched the first national campaign in Malawi and in March 2013 we met with the Southern African Litigation Centre (SALC) and a number of Malawian stakeholders to draft a Bill decriminalising free speech in Malawi. Despite the positive start, the campaign met with some resistance in May 2013, when President Joyce Banda refused to sign the Table Mountain Declaration – a statement issued in Cape Town, South Africa on 3 – 6 June 2007, stating the conviction that Africa urgently needs a strong, free and independent press to act as a watchdog over public institutions, a crucial role that the press is hindered from and punished for playing by the widespread resort to ‘insult laws’ and criminal defamation, in particular. Banda said she did not intend on using the laws criminalising free speech, but she would not repeal them during her term because the next President may want to use them. This was a blow to the decriminalisation campaign, although it had one unintended consequence, the extensive media coverage of the President’s refusal to sign the Declaration. This led to the publication of the Declaration in a number of newspapers and thus there was widespread awareness of the Declaration, an issue that had received little attention prior to this event in Malawi. MISA will launch the next national campaign in Zambia. The timing could not be more crucial as the country has seen an increase in the number of journalists charged under dubious offences, generally perceived as an attempt by the government to clamp down on critical online journalists. MISA expects to meet with stiff opposition to the campaign, but with strong coalitions with the media, legal professionals and civil society we are prepared to fight the growing use of these archaic laws. Midrand Call to Action on Media Freedom and Public Broadcasting in Africa In December 2013, MISA collaborated with the Pan-African Parliament (PAP), the Africa Governance Monitoring and Advocacy Project (AfriMAP), the Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa (OSI- SA) and Article 19 to host a continental conference titled, Media Legislative Reforms and Transforming State Broadcasters into Public Broadcasters in Africa. The conference adopted the Midrand Call to Action: Media Freedom and Public Broadcasting in Africa. The Call to Action calls on all African institutions, decision-makers, civil society and social justice organisations and members of the public to promote media freedom on the African continent and commit to striving to transform and strengthen all State broadcasters into public broadcasters. To date, over 33 civil society organisations representing more than 200 advocacy, research, human rights, democracy and good governance networks in Africa have endorsed the Call. Working towards The SADC We Want MISA was pleased to join a regional reference group to create a value study and a broader campaign titled The SADC We Want. The campaign will focus on: • establishing an independent SADC (regional) Court; • establishing of a regional Parliament with legislative powers; • revitalising SADC National Committees; • evolving the SADC Secretariat to a Regional Authority; and • institutionalising engagement between civil society and SADC. MISA is particularly focused on developing an information-sharing platform for civil society organisations working in different areas of regional development. We aim to make communication and collaboration between civil society organisations stronger and more regular, helping them to work more cohesively and with more impact on issues where they have a common agenda. 25