In September 2004 this chapter organized two important workshops that where attended by a multitude of people interested in media issues.The first one was the workshop aimed at debating three regulatory instruments for journalism in Mozambique , notably Code of Ethic, Journalist statute and Professional Identification Card for Journalists. The second was a workshop on the Right to Information/Access to Information bill which was aimed at agglutinate ideas about the bill so that a consensual bill to be submitted to parliament later this year.

For the regulatory instruments MISA-Mozambique has receives the final draft which will be submitted to the government or parliament to be approved. The right to Information act has been revamped in order to incorporate contributions coming from various stakeholders and it will be submitted to parliament this semester.

Mozambique Chapter is now pushing to set up a coalition of civil society organization to submit the final version of the bill to the newly inaugurated parliament.
Last year Mozambique held its third democratic elections and this chapter has been involved in a series of activities to confer a balanced reporting of the process. So, in September, October and November MISA- Mozambique , with some partners (such as ACCORD and KAS) organized a series of workhops aimed at enhancing reporting skills in a number of media professional.

In total 120 media practitioners from several media houses across the country were trained in subjects related to electoral coverage. Subjects covered ranged from ethics in electoral reporting, electoral conflict prevention and management, gender, media and elections, challenges facing media when reporting during electoral processes.

Apart from training journalist throughout the country MISA-Mozambique undertook a complimentary activity (with funds made available by NiZA) which was to monitor media coverage of the process. The monitoring took place from 17 of November to 06 of December. It only covered half of the campaign period for the funds were made available after the campaign trail commenced.

In fact MISA did monitor media coverage of the election process by observing pre-selected media organizations. A team of 10 monitors and other MISA staff recorded the output of all major print and broadcast media during that period prior to the 01 and 02 December elections. Their observations were analyzed to establish the quantitative and qualitative allocation of coverage to the various political parties and other contesting viewpoints.

The aim of this endeavour was to improve the quality and quantity of information available to voters around the December elections. This would be achieved through improvements in the professional standards of journalism and increased access to media by candidates and political parties, as well as by the public.
Currently we are in the process of developing MisaMoza web site (www.misa.org.mz ). At this moment in time we are selecting relevant information to post onto the webpage. (When it is ready it will be posted as a link on MISA´s homepage).

Another activity that we are involved in is the making of our newsletter. The basic job has been done, now we are going to submit it to the NGC for approval. By May, it will be due out.
MISA Info
MISA-Mozambique has its headquarters in Maputo , the capital. Because Mozambique is a vast and lengthy country there was a need to set up Provincial Nucleus in nine provinces, namely Gaza and Inhambane (south), Sofala, Manica, Tete and Zambézia (centre), Nampula, Cabo Delgado and Niassa (north). They are responsible of providing information on violation, of any sort, of Journalists liberties and rights. They are the core source of all the information. Another activity for them is the implementation of MISA-Activity plan at the provincial level.

MISA has currently 200 members scattered across the country. Five percent of them are institutional members. Our members represent a multitude spectrum of people, not solely journalists and media houses. We have among us academicians, civil society activists and organizations, human rights activists and organizations and...a considerable number of politicians.

MISA Mozambique Contacts

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