African Journalists Monitoring Workshop Report

Djibouti, Kempinski Hôtel : 23-25 June 2009

Download the report : FAJ Djibouti Report 2009.pdf

Working journalists in Africa are facing lower wages, longer working hours and even more precarious employment conditions. They are incessantly denied the fundamental rights to freedom of association, collective bargaining and freedom of expression. Many African journalists were killed due to their journalistic work or their actions while defending workers’ rights, and many more were attacked physically or subjected to harassment, intimidation or arrest.

The number of journalists killed in Somalia, which is notorious as the most dangerous place on earth for media workers, reached 6 this year alone. Eritrea is the greatest jailer of journalists in Africa. In many african countries, genuine trade union activities are still, in actual fact, unthinkable. Serious government interferences in union affairs also continue unabated in some countries.

In the African continent, several legislations fall short in recognizing and enabling trade union organizing, while in other countries, constitutions guarantee freedom of association, the right to strike and press freedom but these are not adhered to practically.

In the midst of all these problems, women journalists are the most affected. Gender equality rarely exists. Women journalists are inadequately involved in decisions making processes of media work. In a number of occasions, female journalists earn so much less than their male counterparts.

Eastern Africa Journalists Association (EAJA), Federation of African Journalists (FAJ), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Solidarity Centre believe that systematic monitoring of the working rights of journalists is a tool that can be effectively used to improve and protect the rights of African journalists as well as to stimulate dialogue with governments, employers and other non-state actors.

Against this background, the Eastern Africa Journalists Association organized a three-day workshop on African Journalists Rights monitoring in Djibouti from the 23rd to 25th June at Kempinski Hotel.

OBJECTIVES

The FAJ workshop, which was organized by the Eastern Africa Journalists Association with the support of Solidarity Centre, had the following objectives:

1. Identify laws and practices that constitute compliance or violations of international rights of freedoms of association and expression and the right to organize and bargain collectively.

2. Introduce the principles of collecting and reporting information on worker rights violations.

3. Explore the potential strategic use of this information for organizing and advocacy.