ZAMBIA MAKES PROGRESS ON ACCESS TO INFORMATION

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release
Paris-1st December,2022

The 33rd Intergovernmental Council of the International Program for the Development of Communication(IPDC) has been successfully held at UNESCO headquarters in Paris with a call to member states to protect journalists from harrasment,threats,assault and intimidation.

IPDC organises international support for media development in developing countries ,countries in transition and countries in conflict and post conflict situations.

Speaking during the session, Zambia’s representative at the IPDC council ,Director for Press and Media Development at the Ministry of Information and Media Mumanga Mayembe said
that Zambia has made progress with regards to Access to Information.

Mr Mayembe said this during a discussion on the progress made on the adoption and implementation of legal guarantees on Access to Information.
He said the country has made progress with reagrds to Access to Information and that President Hakainde Hichilema has been a proponent of such cause.

The council unanimously welcomed and adopted the Global Report on the implementation of Access to information laws and the Director General’s Report on the safety of journalists and the danger of impunity which tracks the status of judicial inquiries of killings of journalists,media workers and soci media producers.
According to the latest Director General’s report statistics from UNESCO’S observatory of killed journalist shows that as of September 30,2022 a total of 66 journalists have been killed in 2022.
Earlier during the opening of the session UNESCO Assistant Director General for Communication and Information Tawfik Jelassi expressed concern about the targetted threats, assault and harrasment on journalists who persit in their work.

Issued by:
Naomi Ng’andu Mweemba
First Secretary Press
Zambia Embassy
Paris