On April 26, 2024, representatives of media actors in Guinea-Bissau met with the new Minister of the Interior and Public Order, Mr. Botche Candé, and the new Secretary of State for Public Order, Mr. José Carlos Macedo, in an initiative to promote press freedom and access to information in the country.
The team led by the President of SINJOTECS, Indira Correia Balde, together with the Project Coordinator, Daisy Prempeh, congratulated them on their recent appointment and presented the Media Foundation for West Africa’s Media Support Project entitled “Promoting Media Freedom and Access to Quality Information in Guinea-Bissau”, which is being implemented with the financial support of the European Union.
As part of the project’s main activities, the MFWA and media partners worked with state actors – the Police, the Armed Forces, the National Human Rights Commission, the National Media Council, the Ministry of Media, the National Regulatory Authority and the Judiciary to develop a Comprehensive National Framework on the Safety of Journalists in Guinea-Bissau.
The aim of the Framework is to promote collaboration between relevant state institutions and local media actors in developing a joint framework and mechanism to promote and protect the safety of journalists; and to provide platforms for addressing violations against media professionals. The Framework also provides for the establishment of a Complaints Resolution Committee to serve as an early warning system to address threats to the safety of journalists in order to prevent and/or mitigate such threats.
The launch of this framework is scheduled to take place during a National Public Forum on the theme: Safeguarding Freedom of Expression for Democratic Consolidation in Guinea-Bissau to celebrate the 2024 edition of World Press Freedom Day in West Africa (WPFD) on May 3, 2024 at the Hala Hotel, organized by the MFWA and its partners in Guinea-Bissau.
The forum will bring together a variety of stakeholders, including government ministries, security forces, the judiciary, media associations, journalists, civil society organizations, universities and development partners.
This symbolic event reinforces Guinea-Bissau’s commitment to overcoming obstacles and building a future where the voice of the press is heard without fear or restriction.
