Amsterdam 6-9 december 1999

The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted the meeting in Amsterdam, from 6 to 9 December 1999. Gertie Hesseling, Director of the Centre for African Studies and representing CAF/SCO, chaired the opening session.

Apart from the various presentations of activities by new members and by Dutch partners, the meeting focussed on three main working themes:

1. issues of professional organisation and structure;
2. law and ethics;
3. the use of new information and communication technologies (NICT), training and production. Work took place in plenary sessions following a programme designed to allow flexibility and debate.

The object of the present report is to provide a faithful (but not exhaustive) record of the presentations and the debates to which the meeting gave rise. The programme and the list of delegates are provided in annex. The documents mentioned in the various footnotes are for the most part available from the Network secretariat.

I. Support policies for the media in Africa: the case of the Netherlands

The main directions of Dutch aid were presented in four stages, beginning with a paper by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, followed by contributions from various practitioners.

1. Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Leen Boer, Dewi Van De Weerd, Piet de Lange

The policy of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs remained more or less unchanged since the early '90s until 1998, the year in which the arrival of a new Minister and parliamentary debates on aid policy marked a change of direction in the implementation of the Netherlands' aid and development policy.

This reform was reflected above all in major emphasis being placed on the responsibility of the beneficiary countries and on their capacity (and their intention) to appropriate aid programmes.

Several strategies were adopted to meet the newly defined orientations. Thus, from now onwards:

• emphasis is placed on demand emanating from the countries of the South;
• a small number of countries are designated as aid beneficiaries. In order to reduce inequalities in the distribution of aid between beneficiary countries and to optimise its use, priorities have been defined, both geographically and by sector. Precise criteria have been drawn up and these are used to identify the beneficiary countries. These include, most importantly, good governance, political stability, the progress of socio-economic policies etc.;
• decentralisation is considered to be essential to the correct application of aid policies, with embassies being asked to play an increasing role.

Aid beneficiary countries throughout the world were reduced to fifty, divided into two categories:

• 20 countries receiving bilateral aid, selected according to the above-mentioned criteria (in Africa, the countries in question are as follows: Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, South Africa, Ethiopia and Eritrea;
• 30 countries collaborating on the basis of thematic programmes in the following subject areas: conservation and the environment; good governance and human rights; private sector support (in Africa, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Namibia and Rwanda receive aid on the "Human rights and democratisation" budget line).

Although the reform has been applied, the Dutch Ministry has not significantly changed the objectives of its aid policy to African countries, which it was recalled are as follows: poverty alleviation, the combat for a sustainable environment, and promoting women's rights.

Debate

• The debate centred firstly on the legitimacy of the selection of the beneficiary countries
  The representative of the Ministry stressed that major consultation had taken place on the priorities to be established, and that these had been debated at Parliamentary level in the Netherlands.
  Does the good governance criterion not inherently restrict access to aid for those countries which are in the most difficulties?

• The issue of decentralisation was also regarded as central to the debate
  Elisabeth Paquot stressed the fact that decentralisation was not a cure for all ills. Ministries sometimes have a better grasp of the facts than their field delegations. In addition, at local level, "decentralisation" does not automatically imply "greater involvement of the organisations concerned" (funds sometimes get dissipated in local government structures). To prevent this kind of seepage occurring, the GRET representative suggested that a fund for assisting the media should be set up.

2. Communication Assistance Foundation (CAF/SCO), Fenneke Hulshoff Pol

The Communication Assistance Foundation, Stichting Communicatie Ontwik-kelingssamenwerking (CAF/SCO) is a Dutch non-governmental organisation set up in 1986 at the instigation of three non-profit associations (including the Dutch journalists' association). Until 1994, it regularly received funding mainly from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 1994 onwards, funds were allocated only on the basis of specific a programme financing agreement. Since 1998, CAF/SCO also receives funds from the Dutch national lottery. Its budget for Africa is 750,000 US $ (across all areas of intervention).

CAF/SCO is reformulating its policy, and has, in this framework, organised a major consultation with its main partners, i.e. the aid beneficiaries. A meeting was held in Accra in September 1999 and attended by both CAF/SCO's partners and media experts, with the aim of better defining the organisation's future policy priorities.

Various subject areas were selected including: information sharing; regional co-operation; sustainability/viability; the use of national languages in the written press; and ownership.

The work carried out in Accra resulted in the following main conclusions :

• Sharing responsibilities with local stakeholders is desirable;
• training needs are still very great, and notably in terms of developing organisational skills;
• the sustainability of projects is crucial, although a project that can't become (entirely) sustainable is not necessarily unsuccessful. A specific strategy should be drawn up targeting the sustainability of projects.

3. Netherlands institute for southern Africa (NIZA), Bob Van der Winden

The Netherlands Institute for Southern Africa (Nederlandsinstituut voor Zuidelijk Africa, NIZA), is a Dutch non governmental organisation. NIZA is an operator in its own right, as are NOVIB, HIVOS (Humanist Institute for Co-operation with Developing Countries), or CAF/SCO, all of which were represented at the meeting.

NIZA's three main programmes include a programme of assistance to the media which is mainly implemented by civil society stakeholders.

Historically based in South Africa, with the end of apartheid, NIZA had to revise its objectives, priorities, and modes of intervention.

NIZA's priorities today are as follows:

• to raise awareness amongst European public opinion of "post apartheid" problems;
• to promote information sharing between various institutions of various countries in southern Africa;
• to promote transfers of journalistic skills.

Thus today NIZA is attempting to develop a network of Dutch journalists (in the longer term this network might include other European journalists) capable of organising and training journalists from Southern Africa. NIZA also assists the Media Institute for Southern Africa (MISA).

4. International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD), Loeki Schaeffers and HIVOS, Maartje op de Coel

The International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD) has several projects relating to new information and communication technologies (NICT) in Africa.

In the areas of communication and the media, IICD is notably working on a project to make shared connections available to the population in Burkina Faso (by introducing "Internet boutiques") and a project for a training centre to be used by NICT in Ghana. IICD wishes to encourage the private sector to take part in developing NICT, to maintain existing networks as well as possible and to promote transfers of bilateral experience.

With notably this objective in mind, in November 1999 IICD ran a workshop in Dar Es Salaam, in collaboration with HIVOS, on "the use of NICT for developing countries by NGOs".

The use of NICT in Africa raises both hopes and fears. The workshop made it clear how much developing these technologies could bring in terms of democratic opening and helping to educate people. The importance of the content to be disseminated on the Internet was also stressed. The Internet is not an end in itself, but rather a tool which can be used at the service of development.

Debate

Marie-Soleil Frère and Kabral Blay Amihere expressed their surprise at HIVOS' presentation. Living respectively in Burkina Faso and in Ghana, they had never heard of the Dutch NGO's projects in the field. These projects are being implemented with various partners, a Dutch NGO (SNV) in the case of the Burkina Faso project, and commercially oriented partners (IBM is a partner for the Ghanaian training centre). The services provided are not, however, free, and as such are not accessible to all sections of the pub-lic.

It was suggested that the Internet boutiques and other cyber cafes should contribute to the funding of other development activities once they had achieved a certain threshold of profitability.

II. Support policies for the media in Africa: the case of Germany

1. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), Peter Holasek

Germany's aid policy is under the responsibility of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

The BMZ commisssions the planning and implementation of projects and programs designed to enhance the performance capacity of individuals and organisations (Technical cooperation) primarily to GTZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit).

Mass media and communication projects have been during the Seventies and Eighties a priority for the German technical co-operation. Aims of the support to Mass Media have been notably the promotion of national integration, the encouragement of social change and democratisation, the advancement of education and the preservation of cultural values.

Particular attention was put on media structures and access to media services for the rural population in particular. The support was concentrated on Radio Broadcasting and training.

Starting from around 1990 the number of media projects has decreased significantly.

After the reassessment of the media programmes the new strategy is to consider media -the " new media " as well- as tools to support development and change. Media producers are regarded as service providers topics like education, agriculture, decentralisation, crisis prevention, conflict resolution and good governance.

Training remains a priority to help the African media to become more professional.

2. Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Reinhard Keune

The Friedrich Ebert Foundation (Friedrich Ebert Stiftung) is a "political foundation", as are other German foundations such as the Adenauer Foundation, etc. In this respect, these foundations are each linked to a political party, but despite this they are not allowed to support these parties.

The Friedrich Ebert Foundation implements a programme for the development of the media and communication which includes a significant training component.

In the past, many African trainees travelled to receive training in Europe; this is no longer the case today. The location of training has shifted, and as far as possible, African partners are involved in the programmes, e.g. the National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI) in Ghana, or the African Council on Communication Education (ACCE) in Kenya.

The Friedrich Ebert Foundation is developing more and more media programmes linked to other subject areas. And which relate increasingly to the "communication for development" approach.

3. Catholic Media Council (CAMECO), Michel Philippart

The Catholic Media Council (CAMECO) is an international consultancy bureau based in Aachen (Germany). It was set up thirty years ago now for the Catholic Church's charitable organisations - initially in Germany, and then the service was made available to the donors of the Churches of other countries: the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, USA, Italy, etc. - with the following aims:

• to help them with the process of examining requests for subsidies submitted by partner Churches in developing countries (in Asia, Africa, Central and Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe);
• to shed light on their decisions in response to such requests.

In implementing this objective, CAMECO carries out two main activities:

• it studies the projects submitted to various donors (such as Misereor, Missio, etc.);
• it plays a communication advisory role on behalf of its partners and Church leaders.

Thanks to its mission, CAMECO is well-placed strategically to observe the main trends of the development - and of aid to development - of the African media. Whereas until the mid-80's, the distribution of projects assisted by Churches in the media sector remained very stable (with projects and activities in the written press largely predominating - over 60%), at the end of the '80s, the number of projects assisting the written press began to fall significantly, compensated by an increase in requests for assistance to radio stations; today, both sectors are similar in scale.

4. Evangelisches Missionswerk Deutschland (EMW), Glenine Hamlyn

The German Protestant mission (Evangelisches Missionswerk Deutschland, EMW) is an organisation co-ordinating Germany's evangelical Churches, with 24 members and approximately ten associated partners. The organisation is a member of the Association of services for development of Churches in Germany. Its administrative secretariat's Communication department, based in Hamburg, collaborates on many Church activities and enterprises across all communication sectors in the countries of the South: radio, film and video production, publishing, periodicals and publications, press agencies, training in communication, theatre, etc.

Many projects thus receive financial support, in close dialogue and co-operation with the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC).

Debate

A number of questions were put to the GTZ representative

• on GTZ's statute: an organisation operating as a private enterprise which has no decision-making power over the way in which funding is used or the projects selected;
• on GTZ's decision not to assist the media other than as communication tools;
• on the ability of the private media to acquire GTZ funding, to which the public media have easier access. On this issue, Reinhard Keune wished to stress the current relevance of the debate on assisting public radio and TV stations: for the last two years, the revitalisation of public service media has been regarded as a priority in Germany.

III. Regional media assistance policies

1. The Social Development Department of the World Bank, Stephen Stern

The Social Development Department is a recent structure within the World Bank, set up when the World Bank was becoming increasingly aware of the fact that no progress was possible unless the social aspects of development were taken into account.

The World Bank is such a large structure that it is not easy for transversal programmes to thrive in it. Thus with regard to communication for development, there is a department which attempts to work in a transversal way with departments requesting this (organising ad hoc communication components, in the light of demand).

2. Southern African Development Community (SADC), Moses Mabunde

Set up in 1994, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is a regional organisation with 14 member states. Each member state is responsible for a specific sector. Mozambique co-ordinates the culture, information and sports sector. With regard to information, SADC's main concern is to improve the small proportion of local and vernacular language programmes. In co-operating with donors, SADC wishes to establish links which are not only financial, but which enable genuine partnerships to be established, at regional level.

IV. Issues of professional organisation and structure

1. Press freedom "observatories", by Daniel Fra (GRET)

The first African press freedom observatory appeared in Côte d'Ivoire in 1995, following the recommendations of a seminar on the journalists responsability during elections. In adopting the principle of self-regulation, the Observatory of press freedom, ethics and standards of professional conduct - OLPED has assigned itself two main objectives: to monitor links between the press and the public authorities, and to make relations between the press and its readership/audience more harmonious.

Inspired by OLPED's example, a certain number of observatories have appeared in other African countries, with the same overall objectives, and always in line with the principle of the self-regulation of the profession. Hence the Observatory of media ethics and standards of professional conduct (ODEM ) in Benin and the Council for the respect of media ethics and professional standards (CRED ) in Senegal, both set up in May 1999, or the Togolese media observatory which appeared in Togo in November 1999.

The existing observatories are today trying to pool their experiences:

• In October 1999, for example, OLPED, ODEM and CRED took part in the meeting of observatories, press centres and press houses which took place in Ouagadougou at the instigation of the Norbert Zongo national press centre ;
• The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the West African Journalists Association (WAJA), the observatories listed above and GRET are currently working on the elaboration of a programme for joint actions.

Some common denominators have emerged from these various experiences:

• professional unity is a key factor in the smooth operation of the observatories (if not the sine qua non condition for their success);
• the principle of self-regulation should be accepted by all the press (private and public press should be represented);
• these bodies should be set up at the instigation of journalists or their representative associations, and directed by them (providing an additional guarantee of their independence).

Setting up an observatory therefore requires the following conditions to be united beforehand: some degree of socio-political stability; sector organisation skills and /or that professional organisations be genuinely representative.

2.by Marie-Soleil Frère (French community of Belgium)

Africa's press houses (this term also includes resource centres) have several main objectives:

• To enable African journalists and media professionals to meet up and to be better able to exchange information and views between peers;
• To enable African journalists to meet foreign journalists; appropriate structures which run smoothly should become the main interlocutors of foreign observers who, confronted with new media landscapes, may lack points of reference;
• To provide African journalists with infrastructure, notably for telecommunication and the Internet.

There exists a very wide range of such structures in Africa, with budgets of between 5 and 500 M CFA francs per year. They are financed mainly by donors, although some of them are attempting to become self-financing (by providing fee-paying services - Internet access, DTP, even training - which might enable them eventually to be economically viable). This shift towards self-financing is not without difficulties: the danger of competing with commercial services, the refusal of certain journalists to pay for services provided by a subsidised structure, etc.)

3. The Ghana International Press Centre, by Kabral Blay Amihere, Director

The Ghana International Press Centre was set up in 1993 at the initiative of Ghanaian journalists. For the first three years, it operated with no external subsidy.

Currently, it is a stable structure with permanent offices, and providing fee-paying services to media professionals. In this respect, it notably runs press conferences, provides Internet access, etc.

The Centre is widely used by both local and foreign journalists, and genuinely serves as a first port of call for refugee journalists in Ghana.

The Centre's difficulties result mainly from a lack of secure resources, which is becoming more marked with the spread of the Internet (which requires a significant amount of equipment). Nevertheless, the Centre should be able to operate independently. To do so it envisages, if necessary, borrowing money from banking organisations.

Debate

• On press houses

Are press houses financially viable structures? The business activities which they can develop can become not insignificant sources of income. (R. Macdonell)

Occasionally inviting political decision-makers and influential figures to attend meetings in press houses could give them significant credibility. (R. Uku)

Press houses should focus on providing services (notably training etc.) but without over-stepping their role (they should not replace training institutions, but rather focus exclusively on short, practical training sessions with very specific objectives, etc.)

• On observatories
  

Are observatories financially viable? Ideally, they should be financed by the profession (this criterion is one of the statutes of the Senegal observatory, which are still being drawn up, but which have not yet been applied in practice).

Are the limitations of self-regulation not apparent in observatories' lack of powers to sanction? The question is pertinent today in Côte d'Ivoire, where OLPED is powerless against the increasingly numerous abuses of certain Côte d'Ivoire journalists.

 

4. Objectives and operational modes of the forum for press houses and observatories in Africa, by Marie-Soleil Frère (French community of Belgium)

Fourteen African resource centres, press houses and observatories were represented at a seminar run at the instigation of the Norbert Zongo national press centre between 26 and 29 October 1999 in Ouagadougou.

An initial meeting of press houses had been held in 1998 in Bamako, but only a minority of these structures attended, and nothing concrete emerged from this.

Despite the differences between the varios press houses and observatories, the idea of setting up a forum which would bring them together emerged. The intention, whilst avoiding setting up an empty shell, was to create a space in which press houses, centres and observatories could meet, exchange information and ideas, engage in lobbying activities, etc.

The forum was set up during the Ouagadougou international seminar . Its secretariat is provided by the Norbert Zongo national press centre, which initiated the seminar. A second meeting should be held in 2000, probably in Bamako, and more structures from English-speaking countries will be invited to attend.

5. World Association of Newspapers (WAN), by Aralynn MacMane

The World Association of Newspapers (WAN) represents 18,000 newspapers, and offers memberships to directors of publication where national associations doesn't exist.

Its objective, especially in new democracies, is to defend the freedom of the press and promoting the culture of reading through newspapers in education programmes.

In the field of co-operation with the countries of the South, the Association is working on several projects, publishes studies, and lobbying in order to encourage the right of independent newspapers to exist.

Debate

• On the Forum for African press houses, centres, and observatories

It was suggested that the forum should focus on its role as a link between English, French and even Portuguese speaking stakeholders.

Denis Decraene (French Ministry of Foreign Affairs) was of the opinion that having too many structures presented a serious risk, and it was thus important, before setting up any new centre, to make a detailed inventory of the sector. Thus in Madagascar, there is a press centre which functions well; the same is true on the island of Mauritius. These centres were not represented at the Ouagadougou seminar.

Kabral Blay Amihere suggested that observatories should be located within press houses.

In any event, the credibility and the legitimacy of the individuals in charge of these structures are a key factor in their sustainability.

• On donors activities

  Ank Linden (Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs) expressed the wish that donors should exchange more information on their activities, so that aid could be better structured and formalised. She requested on this occasion a summary document in the form of a map, illustrating the activities of each party and where they are active. On this occasion, delegates were reminded that a manual on donors' activities was currently being published by GRET. This manual will provide structured information sheets by donor, presenting their priorities, action strategies, and also the procedures to follow for funding applications. A map could easily be produced using the data collated for the manual, and this should shortly figure on the network website (http://www.gret.org/mediapartner).
  

V. Law and ethics

1. Results of the Accra seminar, by Chudi Ukpabi (communication/media consultant)

Democratisation processes in Africa have led to an increased number of private press organs, and unfortunately this has often been accompanied by a fall in the overall quality of publications and a rise in dubious journalistic practices.

It is mainly as a result of this recognised fact that the seminar on standards of professional conduct for journalists was held in Accra from 20 to 23 September 1999. Over 90 journalists, researchers, media specialists, from 25 African countries, attended the meeting.

Case studies on the situation of the media by country served to fuel the debates at Accra. The idea is to publish these case studies in the form of a manual which would be distributed to media skills colleges and training centres in Africa. The manual is in the final stages of preparation, and should become one of the first teaching documents to be produced in Africa, for an African readership.

The main conclusions of the Accra meeting are:

• that the participation of journalists is vital to better regulation of the profession;
• that the facts of life of the profession of journalist must be taken into account when setting up training programmes;
• that for the professional journalist, personal responsibility counts more than anywhere else.

A declaration was drawn up at the close of the seminar has been produced on the subjects of ethics, training and the practice of journalism in Africa .

2. The African Communication Regulation Authorities, their network (NACRA), by Elisabeth Paquot (GRET/ Network secretariat)

African communication regulation authorities have been set up since the early '90s under pressure (depending on the country) from civil society or from the State. The first of these, the Higher authority for audio-visual and communication - HAAC , appeared in 1990 in Benin.

Depending on whether they are English or French-speaking, their roles differ significantly (i.e. they have greater or lesser involvement in the management of programme frequencies).

They are made up of representatives of professional associations and of representatives of the relevant civil service authorities in proportions which differ from one country to another. The greater their collaboration with media professional associations, the greater their legitimacy vis-à-vis media professionals.

A series of meetings , assisted by various donors, culminated in the project to set up the Network of African Communication Regulation Authorities (NACRA).

NACRA was officially set up at the conclusion of the Libreville Conference of June 1998 which was attended by representatives from 24 African countries . As at November 1999, sixteen authorities were members of NACRA (Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Guinea, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, South Africa and Togo).

3. Clarifying the respective roles of regulation authorities and professional associations, by Kabral Blay Amihere (President of the West African Journalists' Association, WAJA)

The emergence of regulation authorities has marked in most cases the determination of States to promote the freedom of the press and the professional exercise of their job on the part of journalists. But there have been many abuses, in the course of which these authorities have become mechanisms of repression, seeking to replace a profession which for its part was attempting to introduce self-regulation procedures (introducing ethical codes, freedom of the press observatories, etc.).

As a result, the difficulty facing African regulation authorities is to avoid becoming what most ministries of communication and information traditionally were, before democratisation, i.e. organs of censorship and propaganda for the authorities in power.

To this end, it is vital that they take into account the efforts of professional journalists' associations to resolve public complaints and to ensure that their professional ethical code is respected. And that they pursue more specifically the achievement of their initial mission: to monitor equitable access to the public media, judicial reforms, the equitable attribution of frequencies, etc.)

For their part, the media and journalists should ensure that they are assuming their responsibilities at all times.

Only under these conditions will regulation authorities and professional associations be able to contribute to the sustainable development of the media sector in Africa.

Debate

• On Chudi Ukpabi's contribution

As far as standards of professional conduct are concerned, although the journalist's responsibility is indeed very great, so is that of the reader, who enjoys a capacity to sanction.

Stopping corruption means first and foremost stopping the "corrupters". Journalists are increasingly asked to write "publicity articles" or "special advertising sections". In the absence of decent salaries, they are often forced to do so to earn their living.

VI. The use of new information and communication technologies (NICT) and media training in Africa

1. Matching the supply and the demand for training in media skills in Africa, by Michel Philippart (CAMECO)

With the advent of democracy of many countries in Africa in the early '80s, and the end of State press monopolies, training needs in media skills greatly increased.

A great majority of media journalists and professionals in Africa are keenly aware of their need for advanced training and to improve their professional skills. There is a great deal of demand for ongoing and specialised training. There are a hundred or so training centres in sub-Saharan Africa: might they not suffice to meet this demand, and needs which are not always expressed?

Amongst professionals, there is widespread dissatisfaction regarding the quality of the training centres, but also about the insufficient attention paid by media proprietors and managers to ongoing training.

In addition, media professionals frequently express their dismay at the lack of relevance and co-ordination of the training available proposed by external practitioners. Underlying these criticisms, there is clearly a very strong desire for good quality, well planned and consistent training.

The most pressing needs are apparent in the fields of accountancy management, but also in those of human resources management, or in other words in transforming media into viable press enterprises.

Finally, for supply to better match demand for training, it is clearly vital to analyse needs in more detail (through exploratory missions), to move towards country specific approaches, and to put into place genuine training plans (with steering and monitoring committees).

2. The training activities of the Thomson Foundation, by Val Williams (Thomson Foundation)

The Thomson Foundation mainly implements practical training programmes in media skills, in Eastern Europe, central Asia and in Africa. The proportion of its activities in Africa has recently fallen, and consists today in approximately 17% of the foundation's activities as a whole.

Having turned relatively late to new information and communication technologies, the Thomson Foundation focuses mainly on the practical aspects of its training courses, and considers, as a training institute with the aim of training journalists, NICT to be of secondary importance. Courses, which last on average 3 months, are run in Great Britain or in situ, depending on each case.

3. The Centre audionumérique de Ouagadougou (audio-digital centre). Presentation and initial evaluation of activities, by Jean-Claude Crépeau (Agence intergouvernementale de la francophonie)

In 1998, the Agence intergouvernementale de la francophonie, jointly with Swiss aid, launched a pilot project on the use of NICT with a dual objective:

• to develop exchanges between radio stations which are already partners of the Agency;
• to provide radio-broadcasters with better access to sources of information.

The "centre audionumérique" was set up in Ouagadougou and produces audio-digital aids, intended to provide an archive of radiophonic programme content (for reuse by radio stations).

The partner radio stations had to finance their own equipment, which is why today some of them sell the Internet connection to NGOs, non-profit associations, etc.

4. The internal organisation of the World Bank: the Africa region, by Richard Uku (World Bank)

The World Bank has recently undergone several reforms in its organisation. It was in the course of one of these reforms that the World Bank Institute (WBI) emerged, resulting from the fusion of the Economic Institute Unit and the Learning and Development Centre Unit.

Combating corruption is today one of the World Bank's main objectives, within an overall objective of sustainable development and of combating poverty. In the field of communication, there is a public information service, which consists of half a dozen staff at the Bank's headquarters, and in Africa, some forty communication professionals are based in the field.

5. Distance learning: the programme of the World Bank Institute, presentation of a video-conference, by Roderick MacDonell (consultant, World Bank Institute, WBI)

Having run several workshops at the World Bank's headquarters for African journalists on the subject of combating corruption, the Bank realised that these workshops were not as effective as expected. This observation led to the idea of introducing "video-conferences" on the principle of distance learning. In the course of these conferences, teachers and students come together thanks to television screens, and are linked up, live, by satellite, enabling them to exchange ideas and to debate subjects which are set beforehand. Video-conferences are regularly organised by the WBI, at a rate of one every 2 months.

In parallel to video-conferences, the World Bank Institute proposes courses which are more "traditional" (with no real live exchanges). Various subjects are thus addressed in courses run from Washington, and disseminated in Africa. To cite one example, a course was recently run on "investigative journalism" for journalists from Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana, Cameroon, Benin and Côte d'Ivoire. A camera films the "teacher", and the exchanges subsequently raised by the lecture take place by telephone/fax/e-mail with the distribution sites.

NICT are applicable in an extremely concrete way to the implementation of these programmes, enabling links which were hitherto impossible, and savings in the World Bank's training budget.

6. NICT, the Internet and journalism in the Netherlands, by Jonathan Marks (Radio Nederland)

Radio Nederland, through its development aid policy, seeks above all to respond to local demand. It considers the use of the Internet to be a priority, both for North/South and for South/South exchanges.

Its assistance to African radio stations takes several forms:

• It notably provides assistance to the Studio Ijambo radio station in Burundi;
• It works on putting archived programmes on line and on archiving programmes.

Debate

• On training

  Elisabeth Paquot recalled that a working group was specifically devoted to the subject of training in the context of the African media partners network. This working group has drawn up specifications notably recommending that integrated national plans should be elaborated .

  Marie-Soleil Frère stressed the gaps in the training of trainers, and expressed her concern about this: most of the trainers currently working were trained in the North some ten years ago, if they are not due to be replaced on ceasing their professional activity, they have a serious need for refresher training.

  Kwame Boafo (UNESCO) emphasised, with reference to Val Williams' paper, the importance of NICT and of their applications in Africa.

• On the audio-digital centre in Ouagadougou

What are the priority subject areas of the programmes exchanged? Three main subject areas have been retained: safeguarding oral traditions in order to include these in civic education subjects; school education for women and girls; cotton marketing circuits.

The centre will ultimately become the property of the Agence intergouvernementale de la francophonie.

• On the World Bank's video-conferences

The question of the cost of these conferences was raised. Video-conferences cost 1,000 US $ per hour, which, according to Rod MacDonnell, is not exorbitant if one takes into account the savings made on the transport costs of teachers and of the other usual logistical supports (the fact that the equipment needed for recording and for dissemination is available in the Bank's various representations allows costs to be contained.)

• On Radio Nederland

The importance of programme content was raised; the fact that programmes are transmitted via the Internet is not meant to obscure their primary aim, which is to inform.

• What is the major obstacle preventing African radio stations from using NICT?

The answer lies in the cost of connections and the weakness of telecommunication infrastructures.

Jean-Claude Crépeau (Agence intergouvernementale de la francophonie) reminded the meeting in this regard that high rates, the weakness of telecommunication infrastructure, the unequal distribution of supply (with providers often found only in the capital cities) were nothing compared to the limits in total supplier capacity in Africa. The only alternative solution for wider distribution were digital satellites. In this respect, the Afristar satellite (launched by Worldnet and Worldspace) should enable a real explosion in capacity. The Agency had already reserved a radio channel on this satellite, to be devoted to the broadcasting of educational programmes during the day, and to programme exchanges between local rural radio stations during the night.

VII. Conclusions of the meeting and prospects for the network in the year 2000

The final session of the meeting was chaired by Denis Decraene (French Minister of Foreign Affairs) who, before opening the session, gave a brief presentation of the recent reform of the former French Ministry of Co-operation.

Elisabeth Paquot, from GRET, then presented the 1999 activities of the African media partners network secretariat. In the last part of her presentation, she used a visit to the "donors site", recently opened and hosted by GRET (http://www.gret.org/mediapartner) as an illustration. It should be noted that the site is a very useful tool for members of the network as well as for all their partners, in both the North and the South. Apart from information on the network (objectives, ways of operating, activities), information on the media sector in Africa can be found there, as well as a large number of links to African media sites or sites addressing this issue.

Finally, Andries Dusink, Director of CAF/SCO, presented a brief summary of the meeting's deliberations, following which the meeting was thrown open, with delegates being asked to address the following questions:

• opinions and lessons to be learnt from the meeting;
• where and when should the next meeting be held and how should it be organised?

With regard to the meeting, the delegates were unanimous in wishing for a future meeting to last less than four days, with less plenary sessions, in order to down to the fundamental issues more quickly. The also unanimously welcomed with enthusiasm the network's new Internet site.

Jean-Claude Crépeau (Agence intergouvernementale de la Francophonie) expressed the wish that a specific session of a meeting of the network should be devoted exclusively to donors investing money in the field, in order to identify genuine areas of common interest and to build partnerships.

For Martin Obrist (Swiss Aid) the next meeting should allow delegates working in small committees to address more specific subjects before presenting the results of their work in plenary session.

Val Williams (Thomson Foundation, representing British aid at the Amsterdam meeting), suggested that the network should be open to non-donor members, such as training institutions.

Denis Decraene reminded the meeting that the network was above all a donor network. It should not however, oppose practitioners being sometimes invited to meetings, but only on condition that they should contribute on specific points. Thus the subject of the next meeting might be "beneficiaries and practitioners of the South", in order to involve these more closely in the work of the network.

Glenine Hamlyn (EMW) who was taking part for the first time in a meeting of the network, stressed its usefulness and its relevance. She suggested that the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) should be invited to the next meeting.

Devi van de Weerd (Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs) stressed the need to draw up a bird's eye view of donors' activities by country and by sector. The network secretariat reminded the meeting in this regard that a handbook devoted to donors' activities to assist the media in Africa was forthcoming. It was also pointed out that the network site already contained a significant amount of information.

Elisabeth Paquot finally reminded the meeting that the main donors funding the network wished to pass this responsibility on, and were launching a request for proposals to the other members present in Amsterdam notably. A donor had come forward to host the meeting of the year 2000, but until confirmation, all suggestions would be gratefully received.

Between now and the next meeting, network members are cordially invited to forward information to the network secretariat (new projects, new orientations, various kinds of information on the media sector as a whole). Only in this way can the network continue to regularly produce information and ensure that it flows more freely between members. The fortnightly e-mail newsletter distributes this information to the member's network.