United Kingdom Minister for Africa James Duddridge is set to address the Eastern Africa Editors’ Society on Monday as the world marks World Press Freedom Day.
Duddridge will give a keynote speech highlighting the work journalists have done amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.
The United Nations General Assembly declared May 3 to be World Press Freedom to observe and raise awareness of the importance of freedom of the press.
Kenya will also join the rest of the world to mark the day.
This year’s theme for the World Press Freedom Day is Information for Good.
This year’s commemoration will be the second in a row to be observed amid Covid that has not speared journalists and media houses across the world.
The virus has ravaged the media industry as hundreds of journalists have been rendered jobless while the media industries fight to survive.
Also, hundreds of journalists have succumbed to the virus across the world and Kenya has not been spared.
Nation Media Group CEO Stephen Gitagama, the Director, UNESCO Addis Ababa Liason Office to AU and UNECA Peter Mwesige, co-founder of the Africa Center for Media Excellence (ACME) Muthoki Mumo, the regional program officer for Committee to Protect Journalists and Mugambi Kiai, the Article 19 Eastern Africa Director will also join Duddridge.
Since April 29, 2021, the Eastern African Editors Society has been holding regional consultations with editors, journalists, and media stakeholders from South Sudan, Ethiopia, Comoros, Seychelles, Mauritius, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Kenya on how to strengthen media freedoms in the region.
The Eastern Africa Editors Society brings together Ethiopia Editors Guild, Tanzania Editors Forum, Kenya Editors Guild, and Uganda Editors Guild to contribute towards deepening media independence and press freedom in the region and beyond.
