Darfur Consortium: Action: Events

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Darfur Consortium Events

Social Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), Nigeria

The organization's main event, a Media Forum, was held on September 15.

The Forum was attended by eight journalists from a number of media establishments including Radio Lagos, Rhythm FM, Governance Today and The Nation. Human rights and governance activists from SERAP, IAP, Campaign for Accountable Governance through Elections (CAGE) and Centre for Public Integrity, also attended, in addition to some human rights lawyers. The Forum provided an opportunity to exchange ideas on the Darfur crisis and discussions centered on how to generate media coverage for the Darfur crisis, especially as many of the main stream media establishments are reducing the news space for foreign news.

The journalists were gently reminded of their social responsibility role in public affairs reporting and urged the need to balance news reports on political issues (which takes the most news space since the elections last April) and the need to push the Darfur issue to the fore-front of news reporting, if not the front pages, but to lead on the foreign pages and foreign broadcasts in the electronic media.

There was a broad agreement that the new regime in Abuja needs to be pushed to adopt a proactive approach to the Darfur crisis and the need to use the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and African Union (AU) advocacy opportunities to further push this. There was also a commitment by the journalists to set up an informal Journalists Against Violence in Darfur (JAVD) group that will meet electronically every month. SERAP and IAP made a commitment to involve other journalists, especially foreign reporters and reporters reporting the presidency in this coalition. The two groups will lead in facilitating the setting of JAVD.

The journalists, however, advised that because of items competing for news space, press statements and media advisory on Darfur should be sent to the newsrooms at least three days before publication where possible.

1 TOGO SANS ETHNIES

Action Professionals Association for the People

Aegis Trust Rwanda

African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies

African Center for Development

African Center for Justice and Peace Studies

Africa Internally Displaced Persons Voice (Africa IDP Voice)

African Security Dialogue and Research (ASDR)

African Women's Development and Communications Network (FEMNET)

The Ahueni Foundation

Alliances for Africa

Amman Centre for Human Rights Studies

Andalus Institute for Tolerance

Anti-Slavery International

Arab Coalition for Darfur

Arab Program for Human Rights Activists

Association Africaine de Defense des Droits de l'Homme (ASADHO)

Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies

Centre for Minority Rights Development (CEMIRIDE)

Centre for Research Education and Development of Freedom of Expression and Associated Rights (CREDO)

Citizens for Global Solutions

Conscience International

Conseil National Pour les Libertés en Tunisie

Darfur Alert Coalition (DAC)

Darfur Centre for Human Rights and Development

Darfur Leaders Network (DLN)

Darfur Reconciliation and Development Organization (DRDO)

Darfur Relief and Documentation Centre

East Africa Law Society

Egyptian Organization for Human Rights

Femmes Africa Solidarité

La Fédération Internationale des Droits de l'Homme (FIDH)

Forum of African Affairs (FOAA)

Human Rights First

Human Rights Institute of South Africa (HURISA)

Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa

Institute for Security Studies

Inter-African Union for Human Rights (UIDH)

Interights

International Commission of Jurists (ICJ Kenya)

International Refugee Rights Initiative

Justice Africa

Justice and Peace Commission

Lawyers for Human Rights

Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections

Legal Resources Consortium-Nigeria

Ligue Tunisienne des Droits de l'Homme

Makumira University College, Tumaini University

Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)

Minority Rights Group

National Association of Seadogs

Never Again International

Open Society Justice Initiative

Pan-African Movement

Rencontre Africaine Pour la Defense des Droits de l'Homme (RADDHO)

Sierra Leone STAND Chapter

Sisters' Arabic Forum for Human Rights (SAF)

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP)

Sudan Organization Against Torture (SOAT)

Syrian Organization for Human Rights

Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC)

Universal Human Rights Network

WARIPNET

Women Initiative Nigeria (WIN)