2024-05-05 11:36:01
Speaking at this regional conference, organized by UNESCO on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, under the theme “The press at the service of the planet”, government officials and journalists underlined the importance to strengthen the role of the media and their contribution to a better future for planet Earth, based on the values of freedom of expression and access to information.
During this meeting, initiated in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication, the Ministry of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans residing in abroad, the Moroccan National Commission for Education, Sciences and Culture, the Higher Institute of Information and Communication, the National Union of the Moroccan Press and the Moroccan Forum of Young Journalists, the participants also emphasized the role of the media in managing the specific challenges facing the Arab region.
In this sense, the Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication, Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid, expressed Morocco’s readiness to cooperate and adhere, at the regional and international levels, to all efforts aimed at giving environmental media the place that belongs to them, in particular through training and the organization of workshops to encourage the emergence of a new generation of media capable of meeting environmental challenges.
The minister further noted that environmental media are today of great importance in view of the challenges that arise in the environmental field, adding that the Moroccan press is more interested in environmental media and addresses issues of environment and climate in its various journalistic genres, notably after the organization in Morocco of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2016, in addition to the considerable efforts led by the Mohammed VI Foundation for the protection of the environment, chaired by HRH Princess Lalla Hasnaa.
In this regard, Mr. Bensaid recalled that recent years had been marked by the adoption of a national charter on information and the sustainable environment, which constitutes a multilateral agreement signed by 30 institutions, including national media establishments. , under the supervision of the High Authority for Audiovisual Communication (HACA), with a view to strengthening awareness of environmental issues.
For her part, the president of the HACA, Latifa Akharbach, affirmed that support for the right of access to available and credible information inherent to the most pressing environmental issues is among the pillar levers for improving media treatment, to the extent that this right constitutes a pillar of the responsible and balanced practice of freedom of expression, a means of building a citizenry committed to environmental issues and a path for change and improvement of public governance , its constraints and challenges.
She also stressed that mobilization in favor of environmental issues “cannot be achieved without media having professional skills enabling it to ensure more balanced and equitable treatment”, noting that “it is important that media mobilization on the subject environmental issues is not limited to the occasional dissemination of information based on description and warning.
And he continues that “it would be useful to develop media practices based on analysis, investigation and the use of experts, which would strengthen not only confidence in journalism, but also in institutions.”
She also focused on the role of social networks, which have become a source of information, which nevertheless involve risks and threats, noting that the rise of social networks as a source of information without scientific qualification in different fields, including the environmental field, can contribute to the spread of fake news.
For his part, the director of the UNESCO Regional Office for the Maghreb, Eric Falt, said that this regional conference offers a unique platform to strengthen collaboration and the exchange of expertise between players in the media sector in the Arab region, helping to shape a more inclusive, sustainable and resilient media future.
He also noted that in line with previous World Press Freedom Days, UNESCO aims through this event to promote dialogue and the exchange of experiences between actors in the media field, while highlighting focus on the specific challenges faced by journalists in the Arab region.
And to emphasize the importance of providing the public with reliable and accurate information in the context of the environmental crisis, in addition to the role of the media in disseminating accurate and verified knowledge.
The president of the National Union of the Moroccan Press, Abdelkebir Khchichen, for his part, indicated that World Press Freedom Day is intended to be an opportunity to rethink the role of the media in serving humanitarian issues and the challenges encountered , believing that climate change today requires a change in public policies regarding environmental issues.
This conference brought together experts, diplomats and journalists from 11 Arab countries, namely Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Palestine, Sudan, Tunisia, Qatar, Yemen, besides Morocco.
2024-05-05 11:36:01