Situational analysis
The Media Law Reform process in the region has been very slow during the past three years. During this period not a single government in the SADC region repealed any repressive laws despite their commitment to media law reform. Members of Parliament in the SADC region attended a MISA and SADC-PF organized conference held in Lusaka in 2002 where they issued a declaration of commitment to media law reform.

They undertook to pressurize their governments to begin a process of media law reform, in particular repressive laws that date back to the colonial era. However, the region witnessed the tightening of repressive laws, particularly in Zimbabwe where there is intensified stifling of media freedom and free expression.

During the same period there were some progressive reforms in the media policy sector. Countries like Tanzania formulated a progressive media law reform while the Namibia media policy process included all stakeholders. Swaziland too is formulating a media and ICT policy which has gone through a wide consultation process. These processes though are not yet complete.

As a result of a changing media and legal environment, a shift in the focus of the program on media law reform and advocacy for free expression has emerged for the new implementation phase. During the SPP 1, the program emphasized on advocacy work that targeted governmental and legislative bodies but failed to actively mobilized grass roots organizations and citizens. The strategic thrust of the program was directed at lobbying government and legislative bodies to create legal framework for the adoption of Access to Information legislation.

This is based on the understanding that information is a basic right and a basic need for all people. Only with information can citizens fully participate in a democracy and actively exercise their human rights. Moreover, because it enhances knowledge, information is fundamental to the empowerment of the poor and disadvantaged in society and provides them with an opportunity to fulfill their human and socio-economic aspirations. Thus, MISA's emphasis on extending access to information legislation to poverty eradication whereby civil society organizations and organized communities will be galvanized to utilize access to information to better their socio-economic conditions.

Poverty has become a streamlined thematic issue within MISA's program activities following the MISA conference held in Tanzania in 2003 which sought to mobilize media practitioners and media institutions to respond effectively to issues of poverty eradication and to join the campaign against poverty.

Read more