Programme D: Programme D: Media Support MISA activities under Programme D in the year being reported focused on media support projects that include Media Professionalism, Media Accountability, Gender in the Media, HIV and AIDS in the media, Elections and the Media, the Scholarship Exchange Programme and the On-Line Publishing skills Training. Other support projects include commissioning and conducting of research that is meant to assist the media in their quest of providing valuable services to the citizenry. In line with this, MISA continued to support the setting up of Media Councils in the region as well as training and skills development. INTERVENTIONS Self-Regulation Working with others partners, MISA has succeeded in setting up the Media Council of Zimbabwe. The Media Council of Zimbabwe is now functioning and has been assisted to fundraise its own resources. As part of supporting self-regulation MISA has partnered FES in developing a sustainability plan as well as seeking support for Media Councils in the region. An amount of Euro 50 000 – applicable between January 2009 and December 2009) - has been provided by FES to support media councils sustainability in the region. In Zambia, MISA-Zambia held several meetings with partner organisations to resuscitate the Media Council of Zambia (MECOZ). These took place in November, 2008, and a follow-up meeting was held at Panos. The participants at the meeting agreed that MECOZ could be remodelled so that it could include more media institutions. This process is being finalised in the New Year. MISA-Mozambique is working to support the setting up of a media council in Mozambique. A Code of Ethics was approved in Beira by editors of main media houses in Mozambique. This code was used during the campaign and voting during the Municipal Elections held in 43 municipalities on 19 November 2008. In pursuit of this goal, three regional conferences were held to find a common platform with the Union of Journalists 57