Marrakech Action Plan on Media in the Information Society Now Available
23-12-2004 (Paris)
Organizers of the Marrakech conference on “Role of Media in the Information Society in Africa and the Arab States” have now published the Action Plan on the basis of the inputs provided by various working-groups during the conference held on 22-24 November in Marrakech.
The Action Plan defines actions related to (1) media freedom, independence and pluralism (2) the place of traditional media in the information society (3) reducing the digital divide in the media (4) women media professionals (5) culture, multilingualism and the media in the information society and (6) internet governance.
The Action Plan calls upon Arab and African States to proceed without delay to the general reform of laws limiting the right of freedom expression and opinion. It requests the States that have not already done so to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966 and incorporate its principles and values of freedom expression and the right to information into their constitutions.
The three-day UNESCO-supported conference was organized by the Moroccan Ministry of Information on the initiative of the International Network of UNESCO Chairs in Communication (ORBICOM) and the Swiss Federal Office of Communication as a follow-up meeting to the 1st phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). More than 270 representatives of international and regional media professional and non-governmental organizations as well as media experts from the academic world and the media industry participated in this event.
The Action Plan calls upon Arab and African States to proceed without delay to the general reform of laws limiting the right of freedom expression and opinion. It requests the States that have not already done so to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966 and incorporate its principles and values of freedom expression and the right to information into their constitutions.
The three-day UNESCO-supported conference was organized by the Moroccan Ministry of Information on the initiative of the International Network of UNESCO Chairs in Communication (ORBICOM) and the Swiss Federal Office of Communication as a follow-up meeting to the 1st phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). More than 270 representatives of international and regional media professional and non-governmental organizations as well as media experts from the academic world and the media industry participated in this event.
Related themes/countries
· News Archives 2004
· Media Development: News Archives 2004
· Morocco: News Archives 2004
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