A press release issue by The Gambia Press Union last
Saturday revealed that young journalists from 16 AfricanCommonwealth
countries will be put through their paces on critical problems facing the
planet and its people during a five-day development journalism workshop
entitled: "Commonwealth Africa Workshop for Young Journalists on development
journalism and the MDGs". The workshop will have a particular focus on climate
change in Dar es Salaam,
Tanzania,
from Monday the 3rdto Friday the 7thof
November 2008.
According to the release, the 20 participants are print and
radio journalists from Botswana,
Cameroon,
The Gambia, Ghana,
Kenya,
Malawi,
Namibia,
Nigeria,
Sierra Leone,
South Africa,
Swaziland,
Tanzania,
Uganda
and Zambia.
The workshop will be formally opened by Mr. Reginald Mengi, chairman, IPP
media, Tanzania.
This training project is organised by the Commonwealth Press Union in
partnership with The Commonwealth Foundation and in association with the
Commonwealth Broadcasting Association andthe Commonwealth Journalists Association.
The local partner is REPOA Research on Poverty Alleviation
in Dar es Salaam.
The workshop is directed at helping young journalists to understand the issues
that stand in the way of the socio-economic development of their countries with
particular focus on climate change. They will be taught how best use the media
to address these issues and help the public and decision-makers reach informed
opinions.
However, an important theme running through the workshop
will be the problems raised by the United Nations Millennium Development Goals
(MDG's)
agreed to in 2000 by nearly 190 world leaders who gave their countries 15 years
to try and achieve the eight target goals. This training workshop, according to
the release, underlines the belief that the media have a vital role to play in
the development process. Equally the Commonwealth Press Union and The
Commonwealth Foundation believe that the media has a social responsibility too
in educating the public on these critical issues and providing the space for
civil society to articulate its views on matters of concern.
The Commonwealth Foundation is an intergovernmental
organisation resourced by and reporting to the Commonwealth Governments and
guided by Commonwealth values and priorities. Its mandate is to strengthen
civil society in the achievement of Commonwealth priorities- democracy and good
governance, respect for human rights and gender equality, poverty eradication
and sustainable, people-centred development and to promote arts and culture.
The release concludes that the Commonwealth Press Union
(CPU) is an association whose members are newspapers and news agencies. The CPU
aims to monitor and oppose any measures or proposals likely to affect the
freedom of the press, they work to improve facilities for reporting and
transmitting news, and to promote the training of all involved in the
commonwealth's press fraternity.
