Communiqué from 2nd phase of info ministries in Garowe

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Inter-Ministerial Consultation Conference focusing on the Cooperation, Collaboration and Development of Somali Media has been held in Garowe by the Information Ministers of the Federal Government and the Member States of the federal system of Somalia.

The Conference begun on 11 April 2018 and ended on 14 April, 2018.

The Conference, has been officially opened by the deputy President of Puntalnd, H.E. Eng. Abdihakim Abdullahi Omar (Amey), and was also attended by the acting Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism of the Federal Government of Somalia, H.E. Abdirahman Idan Yonis, the Minister of Information, Communication, Heritage and Culture of Puntland, H.E. Abdi Hersi Ali “Qarjab”, the Minister of Information, Communication and Technology of Jubbaland, H.E. Abdinur Ali Adan, the Minister of Information and Public Awareness of South West, Ugas Hassan Abdi Mohamed, Deputy Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism of Galmudug, H.E. Abdirahman Jama Afrah, the Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism of HirShabelle, H.E. Abdiweli Mohamed Abdi, the Secretary General of the Federal Parliament Committee of Information and Communication, H.E. Jibril Abdirashid Hagi, Chairwoman of the Upper House Parliamentary Committee of Information and Communication, Muna Omar Hassan, Representatives of Banadir Regional Administration (BRA), the Chairman of National Union of Somalia Journalists (NUSOJ), Mahir Jama, Media Association of Puntland (MAP), Mohamed Dahir Eynsane and the High Council for Media of Puntland, Nur Shire Osman.

The conference duration has been 4 days and the following points had been discussed:

A) Establishing the Public Awareness Commission and Completion of the Public Awareness Strategy.
B) Design and Formation of the Central Media Production
C) National Ethics of Journalism
D) Update on the progress of Media Law before Federal Parliament of Somalia.
E) Establishing the National Media Communication Strategy.

The following points has been agreed:

1. The Participants, have thanked Puntland Ministry of Information, Communication, Heritage and Culture for hosting the delegation from the Federal and the States’s Information Ministries in Garowe, the Federal Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism has also been thanked for organising the bi-monthy inter-ministerial conference of Somalia’s Information Ministries and the Private Media.
2. The Participants, have thanked Somali leaders of Journalists for their role on the consultation conference and sharing their views.
3. The participants, have agreed to double their efforts in implementing the National Public Awareness Strategies all over the country by the Federal Government and the Member States of the federal and the private media.
4. The Participants, acknowledged the need for establishing a public communication strategy for building the trust between the government of the Federal and its members and Somali public. Programmes on Reconciliation and Forgiveness are also encouraged. It has been agreed that Wadajir Radio Programme be expanded to the State Radios for rebroadcast and local content contribution. Wadajir Radio Programme focuses on covering activities and success stories of Stabilisation, Reconciliation, District Council Formation e.t.c.
5. The participants, committed to establish common Radio and TV programmes which focus on addressing the fight against violent extremism while guiding the Somali Youth to the right path.
6. The participants, concurred that, in order to obtain Public Awareness in response to the public need that is impactful and united, there is a need to establish Public Awareness Strategy addressing such need all over Somalia.
7. The Participants, gave their consent to establish a Public Awareness Committee consisting of the Ministry of Information from the Federal Government and Member States of the Federal System of Somalia, this committee will prepare the Strategy to be implemented at federal level.
8. The Participants, reached an accord that this committee will be appointed by the Ministers of Information.
9. The Participants, acknowledged the need to increase and encourage cooperation among the Media both Federal and State level, putting emphasis on the collaboration, resource and content sharing etc. The directors of the governmental TVs have been praised for their implementation of agreements reached in the last conference.
10. The participants, considering the importance for quality and unified messages produced creatively, have approved the establishment of National Media Production Centre in Mogadishu with regional centres in capitals of the states.
11. The participants, corresponded that this Center will be national, co-managed by a committee which will be appointed by the Ministers of Information from the Federal government and Member States. Members will be expert professionals on Media Production. The content produced by the Centre will be shared across with governmental media and also with the private media.
12. The participants, acknowledged the need for having a Media Communication Strategy that allows knowledge sharing among the Federal, States and the Private Media. This strategy will encourage to easily share resources and content across the country and allow to unitedly respond to crisis in a timely manner.
13. The participants, agreed that all the federal and member states will have members and there will be branches in the capitals of the states.
14. The participants, have thanked and expressed their appreciation to the International partners which have been helping the development of Somali Media in particular TIS+ and other organisations that assisted governmental Somali Media and the Private Media. SSI (Dalbile) which plans to provide up to 6 transmitters in support of Jubbaland and South West State Media have also been thanked.
15. The participants, called on the partner Organisations and International Governments which support Somalia to assist the Ministries of Information from the Federal and the Federal Member States how the public awareness messages could reach rural areas of the country in order to counter terrorism messages from violent terrorist organisations affecting Somali Youth in those residents.
16. The participants, requested that the these partners continue assisting Somali Media with immediate necessary assistance accorded to the state media of HirShabelle and Galmudug which are currently under-developed due to their late establishment. In addition provide assistance to all other State Media such as the Federal, Puntland, Jubbaland, South West, Galmudug and South West to reach remote areas of the country.
17. The participants, encouraged all the Somali Media to respect the ethics of journalism, while the conference openly debated on this issue and national ethics of journalism have been agreed which will be implemented before the approval of the Media Law currently before the Federal Parliament of Somalia.
18. The participants, called on Somali Media that journalism should not be used negatively and should be constructive while steering away from false news, fabrication and anything that could harm the nationalism and unity of Somali Nation.
19. The participants, expressed their appreciation to the Parliamentary Committee of Information and Communication which promised to share with the media the current Media Law discussed at the parliament before submitting for second reading.
20. The participants, pointed out the necessity of completing the Media Law and requested Somali Federal Parliament to ensure an urgent approval of the Media Law.
21. The participants, proposed that the next bi-monthly inter-ministerial conference of the country’s Information Ministries to be held in Kismao from end of July to early August, 2018 and subsequently held in Baidoa, Dusamareb and Jowhar in accordance with the sequence of their establishment.
The Conference has been closed by the Deputy President of Puntland, H.E. Abdihakim Abdullahi Omar “Amey” at a ceremony that was attended by other senior member of Puntland government including the deputy speaker of Puntland parliament, all the delegation members of Somalia’s Ministries of Information.