Ouagadougou, The representative of the Burkinabè Parliament, Dramane Nignan said on Wednesday, at the opening of the 9th edition of the International Festival of Freedom of Expression and Press (FILEP), that the media have need for a new lease of life and sustained support from States.
“Both actors and factors of resilience for our fragile states and our peoples plagued by the vagaries of a world in perpetual change, the African media are more than ever in the hot seat. They need a new lease of life and more sustained support from States ”, declared Dramane Nignan.
Mr. Nignan was speaking on Wednesday, at the opening of the 9th edition of the International Festival of Freedom of Expression and the Press (FILEP) which is being held from November 10 to 13, 2021 in Ouagadougou.
“The legislator has the duty to protect the rights of each individual from the risks and other abuses which some Internet users happily engage in,” he added.
Over twenty countries with a total of two hundred people will participate in the 9 th edition of FILEP theme “Resilient media at the service of African citizens.”
Present at the opening, the minister in charge of communication Ousseini Tamboura, said he had come to support the journalists and show the government’s attachment to press freedom.
Minister Tamboura also marked his “attachment to the social responsibility of journalists” by specifying that the current context requires that information be processed “without weakening security and health arrangements and without exposing the population”.
He also added that the government has decided to subsidize FILEP.
According to the president of the organizing committee, Sidiki Dramé, this year’s FILEP is held in a context where those who hold economic power intend to define media content instead of professionals.
For him, “it is unacceptable that 30 years after the Windhoek declaration which enshrined independence, freedom and pluralism in the media, that we continue to harass, intimidate and blithely violate the most basic rights of journalists ”.
He called on the media to show solidarity and unity to face adversity in the face of the multiple challenges they face.
The program of the 9th edition of FILEP includes, among other things, conferences, photo competitions and exhibitions, film screenings on the situation of journalists in exile.
A gala evening is planned for the Norbert Zongo awards ceremony for investigative journalism and the photo and cartoon competition.
The Norbert Zongo Prize for Investigative Journalism has changed its name and will now be called the Norbert Zongo African Prize for Investigative Journalism (PAJI-NZ).
FILEP, a biennial meeting, was initiated in 2000 on the sidelines of the commemoration of the second anniversary of the assassination of journalist Norbert Zongo.
It was initiated by three structures: Media Foundation for West Africa based in Accra, the Norbert Zongo National Press Center (CNP-NZ) and the Burkinabé Movement for Human and Peoples’ Rights (MBDHP).
Norbert Zongo is a Burkinabè journalist who was assassinated on December 13, 1998, while investigating the suspicious death of the driver of François Compaoré, younger brother of ex-president Blaise Compaoré.
Source: Burkina Information Agency