-UNESCO adviser tells media conference
By Nigel Williams
A senior UNESCO official yesterday said that the Caribbean was lagging behind in the implementation of freedom of information legislation and he emphasized that citizens could not participate in any democratic process where they did not have freedom of expression.
UNESCO Adviser in Communication and Inform-ation, Isidro Fernandez-Aballi told the opening of a three-day Caribbean Media and Communication Conference (CMCC) at Cara Lodge that journalism was the only profession capable of presenting the truth, which could influence change. He said UNESCO continued to pay tribute to journalists who suffer death seeking the truth.
“People cannot take part in any democratic process if they do not have the freedom of expression,” the UNESCO adviser said. He said that as media workers observe World Press Freedom Day tomorrow they should remember their colleagues who died risking their lives to report the truth. He said UNESCO would continue to play its role in promoting free expression, which was the founding principle of good governance. To this end, he said Caribbean governments had to work harder in implementing freedom of information legislation. He observed that only about three countries in the region had such legislation.
Alliance For Change leader, Raphael Trotman had submitted a draft FOI bill to be considered by the Guyana National Assembly since 2006, but it has never been brought up in the house for debate.
Fernandez said that if governments are to progress then free expression must be upheld. The Tenth CMCC is being held under the theme, ‘Freedom of Expression, Access and Empowerment’. Scores of journalists, broadcasters and media owners across the region are attending the conference which concludes tomorrow.
In his feature address, Guyanese, Professor Vibert Cambridge called for the harmonization of the communication education programme across the region and urged Caribbean journalists to become change agents in a society that has many unresolved conflicts. The Ohio University academic told the gathering that the Caribbean was in interesting times and at the juncture where creating a just society was paramount. “There is no doubt that the media has an important role to play in the delivery of a just society,” Cambridge said.
He observed that the Caribbean and Guyana in particular had a range of unresolved issues from ethnic conflicts to the recent food crisis. He said media workers ought to be trained to report on these issues, noting that the time has come for the media to play the role as mediator in solving some of these conflicts. “As we gather today we need to think how the next generation of journalists will be equipped to help resolve the conflicts of today’s society,” Cambridge said.
He referred to the diminishing skills and falling standards in the Guyanese media, noting that it was time regional educational institutions harmonised their communications programmes to meet this need. “But not only do we need to harmonise educational programmes, we need to harmonise media laws to deal with defamation. And we need the speedy passage of broadcast and freedom of information legislation,” Cambridge declared.
He noted that few Caribbean countries had freedom of information legislation and this must be urgently addressed.
The conference is being held even as the Guyana government has planned its own which opens today at the International Convention Centre, Liliendaal. The event planned by the administration clashes with the second day of the CMCC being sponsored by the United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the Barbados-based Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU) and the regional media body, the Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM). President Bharrat Jagdeo had initially been invited to address yesterday’s conference opening, but declined. The Guyanese head of state is currently out of the country.
President of the Guyana Press Association (GPA), Denis Chabrol said he was disappointed that the government’s conference had been planned to coincide with the regional conference, the highlight of which will be various panel discussions in observance of World Press Freedom Day on May 3. He said he would have preferred a single event that would have allowed all Guyanese media workers to benefit from the wide and varied experiences of their regional counterparts. “We are extremely disappointed but at the same time we have delegated one of our competent and dedicated colleagues to represent us at the Government of Guyana-organised conference,” he added. The government’s event is being held under the theme ‘Media Freedom: Functioning to Empower Our People’.
