two days on a special license in Swaziland; and two community radio initiatives that were registered as trusts in Zimbabwe. At policy level, MISA continued to lobby for the drafting of democratic broadcasting legislation and policies, independent regulatory authorities, access to information communication technologies by ordinary members of the public and support for broadcasters in readiness for digital migration from analogue MISA made some progress towards self-regulation in the region. The Malawi chapter revived the country’s media council, which was launched in February 2007 after being dormant for almost 10 years. The Media Alliance of Zimbabwe (MAZ), of which MISA Zimbabwe is a member, launched the Media Council of Zimbabwe at the end of 2006, although with threats from the government. The fight for freedom of expression is not solely in the political or legal arena. The HIV and AIDS pandemic also affects journalists and media practitioners and impacts on their ability to realise their freedoms and rights. Stigma associated with this disease is still a reality within the media industry in southern Africa. Thus, MISA has designed and begun implementing a regional HIV and AIDS policy and it is being adopted by each of MISA’s 11 chapters and will be integrated into the regional body’s organisational structures. It will ultimately be recommended to media houses in the region. This will help to ensure that journalists themselves are taken care of if affected or infected by HIV and AIDS. It will also help journalists understand the necessity of increasing coverage on issues related to the pandemic. With all the above-mentioned initiatives at government and societal levels, MISA needs strong communication, both internal and external, and publicity strategies. The communication and disseminations strategy was strengthened at the end of the reporting period when a communication policy was approved. The policy will further augment the organisation’s internal and external communication activities. The website is regularly updated with media alerts on freedom of expression violations across SADC and other information relevant to various stakeholders. Mailing lists have grown and therefore reach a wider group of stakeholders than before. MISA continued to publicise media freedom and freedom of expression issues through the mainstream print and electronic media, and through its various publications, both at national and regional level. Governance MISA Botswana conducted a governance workshop to initiate the chapter’s new board members who expressed gratitude and appreciation for the event. MISA Zimbabwe’s Chairperson Thomas Deve resigned during the course of the year and was replaced by his deputy Loughty Dube. The Zimbabwe National Governing Council had to co-opt a new member in order to fill all the positions. The MISA Zimbabwe membership also created a management committee to deal with administrative and human resource issues. Annual Report 2007 9