Honourable Minister Dumisani Christopher Ndlangamandla
SPEECH
SADC Ministers of Information Meeting
26 – 27 November 2015
MASERU – LESOTHO
His Majesty King Letsie 111
Right Honourable Prime Minister of Lesotho
Honourable Minister of Communications, Science and Technology of Lesotho.
Honourable Ministers from the SADC Member States.
SADC Deputy Executive Secretary for Finance and Administration.
Delegates
SADC Secretariat
Members of the Media
Let me welcome you Honourable Ministers to this auspicious meeting of the Ministers responsible for Public Information and Communication. It is also a great honour for me to appreciate the hospitality of the Lesotho government that has been extended to us since we arrived in the Kingdom.
A meeting of this nature was postponed a year ago in Democratic Republic of Congo due to lack of a quorum, and as such there is need for us to start our work in earnest. That postponement has without any doubt cost us a lot. We are behind in a number of issues that should have been addressed a long time ago.
Honourable Ministers this meeting is extremely important as it is to address aspects of SADC Public Information, from The SADC Declaration and Treaty of 1995 and The Revised Indicative Strategy on Development and Strategic Indicative Plan for the Organ (SIPO II).
As you are aware Honourable Ministers, all these documents are meant to ensure that SADC information is disseminated in an efficient and timely manner to all citizens so as to avoid ambiguity.
Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP)
Honourable Ministers we should give ourselves a pat on the back as key achievements of RISDP are visible such as the adoption of nine years of basic education by SADC Member States. In addition Member States have achieved or are about to achieve gender parity at both primary and secondary levels. A number of Member States have developed and are implementing their National Qualifications Frameworks (NFQs). This is to mention just a few of our success stories.
Honourable Ministers, besides their contribution to achieving SADC overall goals, the main intervention areas were selected according to their potential contribution to;
a) Poverty eradication.
b) Regional development integration.
c) Regionally balanced and equitable development.
d) Integration into the continental and global economies.
e) Sustainable development and Gender equality.
However it is important to note that the RISDP has challenges such as financial and human resources.
Strategic Indicative Plan for the Organ (SIPO II)
This revised edition Honourable Ministers, launched in November 2012, reflects on the milestones and challenges of implementation faced by Member States and other implementing stakeholders. On the whole there has been substantial progress in the SADC region on issues related to political governance, the observation of elections, the establishment of the SADC Electoral Advisory Council (SEAC) and the mediation units.
Honourable Ministers, challenges still remain in the areas of climate change, economic recession, unconstitutional change of governments, growing vulnerability of national borders, illicit mining and so forth. Furthermore, there is need to encourage the contribution of Civil Society to conflict prevention, management and resolution and this includes the media.
Protocol on Culture, Sport and Information
Since the inception of the Protocol in 2001, Article 17 had clear and specific objectives mainly to cooperate in key specific areas, that being;
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The promotion, establishment and growth of community, commercial, public, regional and global media for free flow of information.
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Strengthen public information institutions to be effective gatherers and disseminators of news.
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Develop and promote regional talent and increase local content in various media.
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Take positive steps to narrow the information gap between the rural and urban communities.
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Encourage use of indigenous languages.
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Ensure the media are sensitive to gender issues.
The majority of these objectives have been met and can further be improved and strengthened based on the availability of both human and financial resources.
Minsters let me turn our attention to Articles 20, 21, and 22, which relate Freedom of the Media, Code of Ethics and SADC Accreditation.
Article 20 states that State parties shall take necessary measures to ensure the development of media that are editorially independent and conscious of their obligations to the public and greater society. This has been a challenge as media still grapple with ethical issues and publication of what is deemed right. This is evident by various litigations against these publications and retractions by the media. The state of media in the region needs to be looked into holistically and we need to learn how others have tackled such issues.
Article 21 calls on Member States to strengthen codes of ethics to boost the public confidence and professionalism in the public information subsector. This is the way to go, as the public needs to trust the media, and we need to ensure that a Code of Ethics for SADC media should be developed.
While each Member State has its own accreditation process, Article 22 encourages a harmonised regional accreditation system amongst member states, for ease of operation across SADC. It is time SADC adheres to that.
Digital Migration
Honourable Ministers let us note that Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) is going to transform the terrestrial broadcasting industry by enabling it to provide better picture and sound quality, more choices for the viewer with new, innovative and value-added services on many platforms. I call on Member States to adhere to the SADC Road Map for Digital Broadcasting Migration, which has a common vision for the SADC region to have a smooth transition from analogue to digital broadcasting through harmonised and concerted strategy.
Honourable Ministers, before I conclude let me remind you that Botswana as the Chair, will host the Regional Adjudication Meeting on the 20-24 June 2016.
I thank you