The Communication and Information (CI) programme of the UNESCO Regional Office for Southern Africa (ROSA) is aligned to the global UNESCO mandate in the area of communication and information, which is to promote “the free flow of ideas by word and image”. One objective is to support the development of: free, independent and pluralistic media in print, broadcast and online with the goal of increasing freedom of expression as a contribution to peace building, sustainable development, poverty eradication and human rights. 

Freedom of expression and media development interventions include:

• Supporting policy development and capacity building for press freedom and the safety of journalists, and a special support to independent journalism based on professional ethics and self-regulatory principles and practices;
• Building community media to promote media pluralism and diversity, and fostering gender equality and equity in the media;
• Initiatives in media and information literacy and in journalism education to empower individuals as informed producers and consumers of information;
• Supporting media development projects to secure grants from UNESCO’s  International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) -which is a donor-supported programme established to promote knowledge-driven media development.

The other objective is to contribute to “building knowledge societies” through universal access to information and knowledge. Universal access to information and knowledge is being fostered through the spread of new information communication technologies and the development of multilingualism in cyberspace as well as through the empowerment of youth and persons with disabilities.

Interventions that address building knowledge societies in Southern Africa mostly fall under the Information for All Programme (IFAP), and these include:

• The establishment and strengthening of national IFAP committees;
• The strengthening of universal access to information;
• The promotion of information ethics, particularly the teaching of information ethics in education institutions;
• The implementation of the “Youth Mobile” initiative.

Overall the Information for All Programme (IFAP) has the following six priorities:

• Information literacy
• Information preservation
• Information ethics
• Information for development
• Information accessibility
• Multilingualism in cyberspace