UNESCO and African Court on Human and People’s Rights agree to strengthen their cooperation
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© African Court on Human and People’s Rights
On
14 August 2018, UNESCO and the African Court on Human and Peoples’
Rights signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU), formalizing the
cooperation between the two organizations to promote freedom of
expression and freedom of the press. This agreement, which fits within
the framework of the UN Plan of Action on Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, will
reinforce standards and policies related to access to public
information, safety of journalists, ending impunity for crimes against
journalists, reinforcing the rule of law and the protection of human
rights in Africa.
“This
agreement is an important one because Africa remains a global priority
of UNESCO, and freedom of speech, of communication, and protection of
journalists are key elements towards freedom of expression and public
access to information,” said Deputy Director General Xing Qu.
UNESCO's Deputy Director General Xing Qu and President of the African Court Justice Sylvain Oré signing the MoU. © UNESCO
President of the court, Justice Sylvain Oré,
explained that the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding is the
fruit of previous successful collaborations between UNESCO and the
African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights and building on these efforts
is critical. “It is very important to train journalists, it’s true,
but also the judiciary because the judiciary is indispensable in order
to end impunity.”
More
specifically, the agreement will facilitate capacity building
activities such as workshops, training of trainers for judicial training
institutes and support exchanges as well as promote inter-regional
cooperation, in order to achieve the shared objective of strengthening
the regional legal framework and judicial contribution on human rights
and in particular freedom of expression and the safety of journalists.
UNESCO’s association with the Court began with the organization of an inter-regional dialogue in Arusha, Tanzania, as part of the 2016 commemoration of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists.
The dialogue facilitated discussion among African judges on
international standards on safety of journalists and ending impunity. It
included knowledge sharing on the African human rights framework, the
role of inter-regional courts of human rights and ways to promote
freedom of expression and journalists safety issues at regional and
national levels.
This
partnership led to a training of members of the judiciary (judges,
legal officers, lawyers) in Africa on freedom of expression and the
safety of journalists, carried out in 2017. The project included
seminars and the first ever African Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)
on the subject. Judges from 13 different countries, as well as the
ECOWAS Court of Justice, attended the seminars, which focused on
enhancing the knowledge and understanding of judges on international and
regional frameworks concerning freedom of expression and the safety of
journalists. Nearly 900 participants, from 42 African countries,
participated in the MOOC to acquaint themselves on freedom of expression
issues, through content tailored to fit the African context. This MOOC
was based on a similar course launched in Latin America, where more than 7,500 judges and legal professionals were trained since 2013.
UNESCO’s
ongoing work will also strengthen the realization of the Sustainable
Development Goals, and in particular SDG 16 for “Peace, justice and
strong institutions”.
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