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| THE MDGS |
Journalists and civil society organisations from Anglophone West African countries converged recently at the Coconut Groove Hotel in Accra, Ghana under the auspices of the United Nations Millennium Campaign (UNMC), PANOS West Africa, a Dakar-based non-governmental organisation and Global Call to Action Against Poverty, Ghana to discuss how to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), aimed at ending poverty in Africa by 2015, as well as climate change.
How to enhance the role of the media in building a global movement for the accelerated achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) was the focus of discussions at a recent West Africa Media Workshop in Accra, Ghana.
There were interaction between journalists and the representatives of civil society organizations, as a prelude to the discourse on climate change and how to end poverty in Africa by 2015.
To Abimbola Akosile, Deputy Group Business/Development Editor of Nigeria, Thisday newspapers, Nigeria's civil society organisations are like a horse- strong-willed and firm- in their reactions to government policies.
Sonnie Morris of Sky FM 107, Liberia averred that the civil society organisations make noise about government policies, but immediately they are settled, they let the issue die. He said if the media comes out to blame them, they lash out at the media.
For Mrs. Winnie Saywah of Liberia's The Inquirer newspaper, the civil society is like a monkey. Though monkey's hand is black, it is clean.
Mrs. Zainab Joaque, producer of Sierra Leone's Eagle FM Africa 91.3, said like a lion, the civil society does not have a friend.
On his part, Mr. Thomas Deve, Policy Analyst (Africa) United Nations (UN) Millennium Campaign Office in Nairobi, the media is like a rabbit, always trying to describe their stories.
"They are always scheming. The rabbit looks somehow innocent, but he is not," he explained.
Mrs. Sylvia Mwichuli, Acting Deputy Director, UN Millennium Campaign Africa Regional Office, Nairobi painted the media, as a lion, is ferocious, and feared by politicians and governments.
Mwichuli stated that MDGs was meant to end poverty in Africa by 2015 and that the slogan, 'Stand Up Against Poverty in Africa,' is not kite flying.
"Stand Up' basically is all about achieving MDGs. The goals are eight goals- the right to eradication of extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education; promote gender equality and empower women; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; combat Human Immuno-Deficiency Virus /Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS), malaria and other diseases; and ensure environmental sustainability and develop a global partnership for development," she said.
She recalled that in one of their programmes, Afrobeat maestro, Femi Anikulapo-Kuti, interacted with the slum people in Kenya.
"It was a very interesting conversation between him and these children living in the slum through the Internet conversation. 'Stand Up' is about you and I saying enough is enough to poverty in Africa," said the first woman to report parliament as a journalist in Kenya.
She urged journalists and the civil society to put themselves in the shoes of those people who cannot help themselves.
"The situation of the poor people in our midst is horrendous. We should try and unblock the blockage and free them from poverty," she pleaded.
Concerning climate change, she encouraged journalists and the civil society to be part of the tree-planting crusade to reduce the deleterious effect of climate change on the environment.
She said while Africa might not be suffering from tsunamis, but desertification, ocean surge and erosion are causing environmental degradation in the continent.
Mwichuli reiterated that Africans should not be held responsible for climate change, saying: "The problem of desertification started during colonialism, when the colonial masters were felling trees for export and domestic use without making conscious effort to replace them. After colonialism, the same habit continued and it has led to the depletion of most of the forest reserves and the environment is now vulnerable to climate change," she warned.
She stated that the developed countries produce nearly half of the global greenhouse gas emissions, which has increased the earth's temperature, and therefore called for a better climate policy by the developed countries, following the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Deputy Country Director in Ghana, Mr. Shigeki Komatsubarar, averred that MDGs is the key instrument to achieving the UN millennium development goals.
"Developed and developing countries should strive to attain the goal of MDGs," he counselled.
While optimistic that Ghana is making progress on poverty reduction, he, however, added: "But we need to go further than that. Talking about maternal mortality, Ghana is still struggling."
Komatsubarar stressed the need to raise the level of awareness on MDGs, insisting: "The African governments should not just ask for external help, but they should utilise the resources they have to fight poverty. External help can bring additional support."
Realising MDGs, he emphasised, is not only for the government or private sector, but all hands must be on deck.
"Students, parliamentarians, the public, all need to know what MDGs is all about. They can make a critical difference," he said.
Admitting the importance of the issue of climate change, he queried: "But how can we work together, beyond UN agenda on climate change?"
Although Ghana is making strides to protect the environment from abuse, that, he said, does not mean that everything is fine.
"There is the need to address the issue of climate change in a holistic way; we can make more progress. The cup is not full; we need a lot of water to fill the cup. Can we keep our environment clean?
"Does it take any money? These days, we see garbage around. Why do we create conditions for malaria and turn around to say that we are wagging war against malaria?" he asked rhetorically.
Mr. Alphonso Weah of Youth for Community Academic and Development Services (YOCADS), Liberia, in his progress report of MDGs in the country, regretted that the Liberian civil war caused a lot of havoc to the country.
"During the war, most of the basic infrastructures were damaged. But life is now taking shape in Liberia and government is building additional classrooms and at the same time rehabilitating structures that were destroyed during the war.
"The government is also promoting gender equality, reducing infant mortality," he disclosed.
Achieving the MDGs goals in Liberia, he said, is yielding results, with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf embarking on many reformative programmes to checkmate corruption.
Mr. Musa Soko from Youth Partnership for Peace and Development (YPPD), Sierra Leone disclosed that 70 per cent of his people live below poverty line.
"In the area of education, the issue of gender parity remains a serious problem. Our country is slowly moving forward to realising the MDGs," he said.
Rev. Albert Kwabi from Ghana's Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) noted that the country is creating awareness on MDGs.
"We have a strong collaboration with MDGs. We have a wider coverage with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on how to reduce poverty in Ghana. We are often invited for meetings. We have very strong collaboration with UNDP, Parliament and the media. We are localising the activities of MDGs at the lower level," he explained.
But he pointed to inefficient service delivery in the hospitals, frequent black out, water shortages, among others as indication of poverty in the country.
"The productivity level is low, due to high unemployment, rising cost of living and increasing vulnerability," he frowned, just as he
challenged the media for not following up their stories on MDGs.
Mr. Leonard Ackon, Communications Assistant of MDGs/GCAP Campaign in Ghana explained that the media, as the fourth estate of the realm, has a critical role to play in monitoring the activities of politicians towards achieving the MDGs.
He recalled: "In Ghana, in one story, it was reported that residents would have to carry a woman in labour and trek for about 20 kilometres to get to the closest heath care centre."
He urged the media to continue with such commendable reports to achieve the MDGs, adding: "It is the journalists that can monitor MDGs and build partnership. The media can make a balance."
Mr. Thomas Deve noted that poverty is an all-embracing thing and the press should concentrate on small things, instead of the big ones.
He stressed that journalists should work with survivors of injustice and look at the message and ask questions, without making value judgment.
"The media is to be a barometer to measure the quality of government. MDGs should be part of the political agenda for the politician during elections," he stressed.
Mr. Emmanuel Edudzie from Youth Empowerment Synergy, Ghana opined that knowledge gathering on MDGs is important, saying: "You can engage youths who speak multiple languages to gather information on MDGs. Deal with the issue thematically."
Dr. Tola Winjobi from GCAP in Nigeria re-echoed the responsibility of the African governments to monitor how MDGs is being implemented.
"They should know that they are part and parcel of MDGs. The civil society should be there to blow the whistle; there could be mass action against the government. It is our responsibility to hold the government accountable for the millennium development declaration," he emphasised.
He stressed the importance of the media as an ombudsman, insisting: "The civil society and the grassrooters should be involved. They should ensured the passage of the Freedom of Information (FoI) Bill by the parliaments in Africa in fighting poverty."
The three days workshop was rounded off with a visit to Elimina Castle, a notorious exit point for the trafficking of slaves.
Updated: 29th December 2009
Ghana
