Consultative Workshop on the Draft Somali Media Law held in Mogadishu
Mogadishu, March 22, 2013
More than 30 different Somali media organisations, publishers and representatives of the international media law experts and NGOs gathered at Mogadishu’s Aden Adde International Airport for the first of a series of consultation workshops to discuss the draft media law on Thursday 21 March, 2013.
The Workshop which was held on behalf of the Somali ministry of Information, Posts, Telecommunication and Transport by AU/UN Information Support Team and co-organized by the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) was officially opened by deputy minister of Information, Posts, Telecommunication and Transport, Mr. Abdishaur Ali Mire emphasizing the importance of preparing legislation that takes account of international best practice.
“Today, we are here to discuss the draft media law in which the ministry has provided this opportunity to the media stakeholders in order for the media law to be satisfied both by the journalists and the government.” Mr. Abdishakur Mire Adan said during his opening remarks.
International media law experts travelled to Mogadishu to attend the workshop and included: Patrick Mutahi, Senior Programme officer for Article 19; Doug Griffin, International Media Lawyer; Dr Paolo Cavaliere, from the Programme in Comparative Media Law and Policy at the University of Oxford.
“We are very excited to contribute with our expertise and engage with the practical process,” said Dr Cavaliere. He emphasized that the contribution from the international experts was essential, but that this has to be “…tailored for Somalia, preparing the ground for discussions that will lead to the adoption of a mature and just Somali law.
The Article 19 representative, Partiric Mutahi presented to the workshop recommendations on the Somali media law, which the ministry representative noted and promised that it will consider.
“This law has to come from the industry” commented Dahir Adani, representative of the Ministry, noting that the consultative process will continue over the coming months and is intended to provide opportunities for contributions and discussions from media and other stakeholders in all regions of Somalia.
The Secretary General of the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ), Mohamed Ibrahim, called the workshop a tremendous opportunity offered by the Ministry of information and praised the media stakeholders their participation and contribution which is vital for the completion of a successful Somali media law.
“We are excited of how the consultation process of the draft media lawcontinues and by adopting the contributions and the recommendations from the media stakeholders and the International experts and organizations will result a successful media law.” said MohamedIbrahim, the Secretary General of the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ).
The workshop follows after the Ministry a held two workshop on Communication and Media Law consultations in February 2013 followed by several workshops held by the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) to further collect the input from the media stakeholders to this draft law. During these workshops, the Somali journalists and media stakeholders selected amongst themselves a committee which presented the input from the media stakeholders to the 21 March workshop.
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