* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
A programme designed to boost media capabilities in six parliamentary democracies.
There are few opportunities for journalism training organisations working in the developing world to participate in a programme that includes an opportunity to work with parliaments in Africa, Europe and the Middle East – all of which function under different practices.
Since 2008, Thomson Reuters Foundation has been involved in the Westminster Consortium for Parliaments and Democracy Programme (TWC). The programme is designed to boost media capabilities in six parliamentary democracies of Uganda, Mozambique, Ukraine, Georgia, Morocco and Lebanon.
The core focus areas of the TWC programme is on parliamentary processes and management, access to information, an effective media, human rights, civil society engagement, and financial oversight.
The programme wrapped up with a two-day workshop at the end of May. The event brought together the programme’s partners with parliamentarians from the six participating countries, to explore best practices and lessons learned.
Thomson Reuters Foundation’s role in the programme was to help promote free access to public information through training courses for accredited parliamentary journalists on covering elections and parliament, good governance and the rule of law, financial reporting and covering corruption. We also ran media and communications training courses for parliamentarians and parliamentary staff in all six TWC countries. In total, we ran 37 courses and trained more 400 journalists in the target countries.
The event opened with a welcome speech by Linda Duffield, TWC Chair and chief executive of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, the lead member of the Westminster Consortium. This was followed by a brief on the theory of change by George Kunnath, TWC’s Programme Director. Members and representatives from the Arab Institute for Parliamentary Training and Legislative Studies, and the Ugandan and Mozambican Parliamentary Study Centres outlined for the audience the positive changes this programme has made in their respective parliaments and the challenges they have faced throughout this journey.
A Ugandan parliamentary representative gave an interesting presentation on value for money and strengthening accountability committees and raising their media profile in the Ugandan parliament. This was followed by a brief on the establishment of a technical cabinet in Mozambique through the TWC programme.
On a panel discussion on the first day, I represented Thomson Reuters Foundation, explaining the role of media in parliamentary processes and presenting two examples of journalism training courses held in Beirut: a Reporting on Oil, Gas and Mining workshop in 2011, and a workshop on Strategic Communications Planning for Parliaments in the Arab World in 2012. I explained the importance of the media’s role in democratic societies, in holding governments and parliaments to account by providing consistent and impartial news to the public. The same panel also discussed the effectiveness of a linked-up press association in Uganda, the Ukrainian parliament’s challenges with Freedom of Information and Communications, Mozambique’s parliamentary journalists association and developing a communication plan for the Lebanese parliament.
The event also heard an inspiring speech by MP Nyeleto Brooke Mondlane, Vice Chair of the Public Authority, Local Governance and Social Communications and the President of the Parliament Women’s Office in Mozambique parliament. Ms Mondlane gave a moving presentation on the importance of the TWC programme and its provision of an opportunity to undertake a legislative process that enabled national consultations to take place.
“It was refreshing to have dealt with a partner [TWC] that did not impose consultants or experts nominated by them,” Ms Mondlane said.
“Our conclusive work presented to plenary was the deliberations of a Mozambican team, from Mozambican recognised institutions.”
Thomson Reuters Foundation has welcomed the opportunity to join with its partners in this consortium in building capacity and sharing resources and training opportunities with the programme’s recipients in the developing world.
However, lasting change will only happen if the skills learned continue to be put into practice by those receiving them. This was the lesson we all took home with us on at the conclusion of the two-day event in London.
As the TWC programme approached its final phase, Thomson Reuters Foundation has launched similar programmes in several the TWC target countries, including Morocco and Georgia, as well as the central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan, and is continuing to work with the Westminster Foundation for Democracy in several exciting areas.
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