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Global media stakeholders gathered for two days at the African Union Headquarters from November 6- 7, 2024, to honour the lives of journalists lost in the line of duty, and advocate for an enabling environment for the journalists and other media workers reporting in crisis and emergencies. 

This two-day global commemoration co-organized by UNESCO and the African Union Commission, was held within the framework of the International Day to End Impunity Against Journalists (IDEI) under the theme safety of journalists in crises and emergencies. 

Bringing together media stakeholders drawn from the African Union organs, international, regional and national media development partners, journalists and other media workers from around the world, participants reflected on the many sacrifices journalists make while covering crisis and emergencies and proposed actions to prevent further loss of life, protect journalists from attacks, and promote the fundamental right to freedom of expression.

H.E. Mr. Kebede Desissa, Ethiopia’s State Minister of Government Communication Service

Speaking on behalf of H.E. Amb. Bankole Adeoye, Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security of the African Union Commission, Amb. Salah S. Hammad, Head of the African Governance Architecture (AGA)/African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) Secretariat, said that   this year’s commemoration theme, Safety of Journalists in Crises and Emergencies is especially timely and stressed that

 “Like many other regions, Africa continues to witness numerous conflicts, political instability, and humanitarian emergencies exacerbated by environmental crises. In these contexts, journalists become targets not only of violence but also of the insidious forces of censorship, intimidation, and disinformation. Without the ability to seek and disseminate information freely, the public is denied access to facts, and democracy falters, for as we all know, an uninformed citizenry is a danger to democracy’’

The IDEI day of Action provided a unique opportunity for UNESCO Addis Ababa Liaison Office to AU and Ethiopia, the African Union and African media stakeholders, to organise several sessions with key outcomes, that will contribute to promoting freedom of expression, access to information and journalists’ safety. Among them, was the launch of the Ethiopia media lawyers alliance, preliminary outcome of the second assessment on the status of the press freedom, access to information and the safety of journalists in Africa, by African media stakeholders, as well as formation of a working group to support the development of the African Union Media Fellowship (AUMF) capacity building curriculum. 

Supported by UNESCO Addis Ababa Office through the Global Media Defence Fund, and implemented by the ), the Ethiopian Media Lawyers Alliance (MELA) was launched during the IDEI Action day. The alliance aims at strengthening the media freedom, support legal aid and policy reforms as well as build the capacity of both the right and duty bearers to defend the journalism profession

This Network is part of the broader national effort to strengthening democratic institutions in Ethiopia. Over the past few years, 91�鶹������Ʒ���� supported policy reforms, capacity building, advocacy and institutional building. At the beginning of this year, UNESCO partnered with the Editors Guild of Ethiopia to develop a web-based . The web portal, accessible in three languages at the moment, helps to monitor press freedom and safety of journalists and provides data for advocacy, policy making and input for the Alliance.

The IDEI further provided the African media stakeholders, with an opportunity to share the preliminary report, on the current status of press freedom, access to information and the safety of journalists in Africa. 

Supported by UNESCO Liaison Office to the African Union, through the UNESCO MDP, the preliminary report was presented by the lead researcher and coordinator of the of five African regions focal point- The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA). Among other treads, the report reveals that over the last two years, the legal and regulatory framework governing the media in Africa has remained frail, impacting negatively on the safety of journalists, with a ripple effect on the citizens’ ability to enjoy their fundamental rights to freedom of expression and access to information. 

To crown it all the IDEI action day presented the platform to establish a working group, that will support a forward-looking training curriculum for the African Union Media Fellowship and the media in Africa at large. The working group includes African media practitioners, academia from Ethiopia and other countries, African Union Directorate of Information and Communication, UNESCO Liaison office to AU and UNECA, European Union Delegation to African Union and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in Ethiopia. Other media stakeholders that provided constructive inputs and were incorporated.

UNESCO’s support is coordinated by the Department of Communication and Media Studies at the University of Johannesburg proposes through funding from the UNESCO IPDC. It will contextualise for Africa, the UNESCO Journalism series, the AUMF and other training materials that have used in training media in Africa. Furthermore, the training modules will ensure that elements such as data-driven journalism, innovation, field work reporting skills, and critical media literacy, are mainstreamed as cross cutting issues. 

Participants further recommended that the AUMF, should also create an online platform, as a repository for various capacity building resources developed by the different media stakeholder in Africa and others globally, rather than reinventing the wheel. 

Modules on mis/disinformation and fact checking in Africa, digital storytelling and content production in Africa will be prioritised for piloting purposes. These modules will be delivered piloted through a carefully curated massive open learning course platform to be f developed as part of the AUMF programme. A virtual newsroom will be established to bring journalists from various member states into the equation using the moder technologies such as the Artificial intelligence. To achieve this, UNESCO will use the IPDC funding and leverage of the AU-EU partnership in support to the AUMF.

Among other things, the 2024 IDEI global commemoration ended with a commitment from the African Union, to jointly support and mobilize international solidarity for safety of journalists. These includes the kick-off of the process towards the establishment of the Group of Friends on Safety of Journalists at the African Union and the adoption of the key recommendations on the Protection of Journalists and Access to Information in Situation of Armed Conflicts passed by the African Union Peace and Security Council, as part of its 1230th meeting on 2 September 2024.