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Election Coverage: ECCAS Journalists Produce Code Of Conduct

 UN sub-regional workshop on the role of journalists in the peaceful conduct of elections ended in Douala over the weekend.

Most armed conflicts in Africa, it has been noticed, stem from contested election results. In a bid to ensure that elections in the Central African sub-region are conducted peacefully and in a free and fair manner, the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa, UNOCA, from May 6-8, 2015, in Douala, held a workshop for journalists from nine countries from the Economic Community of Central African States, ECCAS sub-region. The theme was, “The role of journalists in the peaceful conduct and promotion of elections in Central Africa.”

At the end, participants came up with a Code of Conduct for election coverage. It emphasises the need to avoid being corrupted, sensational and partisan reporting or over-quoting sources. They thus insisted on accurate reporting, equity in process information, especially the manifestoes of candidates. One of the facilitators of the workshop, Barrister Akere Muna – a former president of the Cameroon Bar Association and the Pan-African Union of Lawyers – insisted on the need for such a document in guiding journalists in their work.

Speaking at the event, Col. François Ndiaye, the representative of the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Central Africa, said Africa in the next three years will organise 17 presidential elections. The role of journalists in the process will be to ensure that they provide the right information by raising awareness among the people.

This, Col. Ndiaye added, will save the continent from untold violence and blood-letting. Mireille Bisseck Eyouck, the Littoral Regional Delegate for Communication, who stood in for the Minister at the opening, warned that conflicts resulting from disputed elections can be disastrous, even resulting in war and genocide. Ahowanou Agbessi, the Director of the UN Office for Democracy and Human Rights in Central Africa, CNUDHD-AC, insisted on the need for the media to help voters freely make their choice.

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