MICT to conclude community media policies
INFORMATION minister Peya Mushelenga said the ministry is busy finalising the community media policy framework within the current financial year.
The Community Media Policy Framework will strengthen the development of community media in the country.
Mushelenga said at the commemoration of World Press Freedom Day held in Windhoek last Thursday that the framework will strengthen community radios, which by extension will empower communities at the grassroots level.
“The ministry remains steadfast in implementing this policy,” he said, adding that given that access to information is one of the cornerstones of freedom, the ministry further reaffirms its commitment to ensuring that the Access to Information Bill is passed.
The bill, he revealed, was referred to the Parliamentary
Standing Committee on Information and Communication Technology and Innovation to conduct public hearings in February 2022. However, it is now back in Parliament to follow the normal legislative process that would culminate in it becoming law.
“While we prepare for the enactment of Access to Information and its implementation thereof, the ministry will in the meantime conduct an information access impact survey to determine the percentage of the population that has access to information, and determine the impact it makes on those citizens. The survey will also identify gaps that hinder access to information,” the minister stated.
The survey will further indicate how best government can ensure access to information, especially in an ever-changing digital era, and inform the ministry on how to adjust its information dissemination strategies to meet the needs of the Namibian people.
On his part, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) representative to Namibia, Djaffar Moussa-Elkadhum, said the latest World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development report shows that more than five in six people around the world live in a country that experienced a decline in press freedom over the past five years.
He said some 400 journalists were also killed during the same period for doing their job.
The day was held under the theme ‘Journalism under Digital Siege’.