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From the IFEX "COMMUNIQUE" # 6-48                9 December 1997

WAJA TO HOLD REGIONAL MEDIA CONFERENCE IN WEST AFRICA

The West African Journalists' Association (WAJA) will hold a
regional conference on the state of the media in West Africa in
Dakar, Senegal from 23 to 26 February 1998. The conference, held
in cooperation with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES), will
review recommendations made in March 1996 at a regional
conference on "The Media and Democracy in West Africa", also
organised by WAJA and FES. At the March conference, delegates
from WAJA's member unions discussed the general state of the
media in the various countries, and proceedings of this
conference were published in French and English in a book, "The
State of the Media in West Africa 1996", edited by Kabral
Blay-Amihere and Niyi Alabi.

On 18-21 June 1997, WAJA organised a regional meeting in Abidjan,
Ivory Coast on the theme, "Towards the strengthening of
journalists' associations in West Africa", which discussed ways
and means of enhancing journalists' associations in the
sub-region. WAJA says, "The Dakar conference will examine how far
WAJA members have moved in this direction, including WAJA's
declared policy to establish a regional electronic monitoring
network for the defence and promotion of press freedom and the
exchange of information and news." The Dakar conference will also
discuss government pressure on the media in Nigeria, Niger,
Sierra Leone and a few other countries in the region. WAJA says,
"Even where there is constitutional rule, as in Ghana and
Senegal, the courts and the legal regime are an obstacle to the
growth of press freedom."

For further information, contact Kabral Blay-Amihere at WAJA,
International Press Centre, Accra, Ghana or PO Box 4031, tel:
+233 21 234692/27558765, fax: +233 21 234694/772990, e-mail:
gja@ncs.com.gh; or, Achim Vogt, Friedrich Ebert Foundation, B.P.
0620 Triposital, DY Cotonou, Benin, tel: +229 302 789/302 884,
fax: +229 303 277, e-mail: ebert2intnet.bj.

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The IFEX "Communique" is published weekly in English, French and
Spanish by the IFEX Clearing House, Toronto. The facility is
operated by the Canadian Committee to Protect Journalists (CCPJ)
in partnership with the member organizations of the International
Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX). Contact the IFEX CH at
CCPJ, 490 Adelaide Street West, Suite 205, Toronto, Ontario, M5V
1T2, CANADA; Tel: (1-416) 703-1638; Fax: (1-416) 703-7034; or
E-mail: ifex@web.net. WWW site: http://www.ifex.org/. As of 15
December 1997, contact the IFEX CH at 489 College St. #403,
Toronto, Ontario M6G 1A5 Canada, tel: +1 416 515 9622, fax: +1
416 515 7879, e-mail: communique@ifex.org. "Communique" Editor:
Kristina Stockwood. Subscriptions are available by e-mail and
surface mail. The views expressed in the "Communique" are the
responsibility of the sources to which they are attributed.

___________________________________________________
Bruce Girard             Agencia Informativa Pulsar
Email: bgirard@pulsar.org.ec
http://www.web.net/amarc/pulsar.html
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