At the partner meeting in Accra, the vice-president of the Independent Electoral Commission of Ivory Coast, Dr. Fatoumata Traore Diop said, she hoped the collaboration with IMS and other partners would lead to a succesful electoral process. Photo: Antti Kuusi/IMS

IMS is preparing to assist with community radio, safety of journalists and monitoring the media coverage during the campaign ahead of elections in Ivory Coast

IMS will work with its local and regional partners to prepare a strategy to assist local media in Cote d’Ivoire in preparation for the previously delayed presidential elections this November.

Preliminary discussions were held during a meeting of the Partnership for Media and Conflict Prevention in West Africa which met in Accra, Ghana June 16 and 17. In addition to Cote d’Ivoire, the Partnership also discussed current and future partnership work in countries including The Gambia, Guinea (Conakry), Guinea-Bissau and Chad.

Prof. Kwame Karikari, the executive director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), says he was pleased with the outcome of the meeting and is looking forward to the coordination meeting with the Ivoirians in early August.

The vice-president of Independent Electoral Commission, Dr. Fatoumata Traore Diop, hoped that the assistance from regional partners would help them conduct a successful electoral process in Cote d’Ivoire.

Training of community radios to cover election

Activities in Cote d’Ivoire will likely focus on three main areas: community radio, safety of journalists and media monitoring.

The work with the 107 community radio stations dotted across the country will include training in covering the electoral process as well as assisting in the organization of network of these stations so they can more effectively cover the November 30 elections. It is hoped that these stations can then share reports with one another and in doing so provide pertinent national information to their specific audiences.

There will also likely be some work done to address the safety of journalists during the elections with specific strategies coming out of the August meeting.

IMS will coordinate these efforts with its partners, particularly with regional partners Panos West Africa and MFWA and the local Ivoirian partners.

Côte d'Ivoire became divided in 2002 between the Government-controlled south and the rebel Forces Nouvelles-held north, but last year's Ouagadougou Peace Agreement paved the way for an end to the conflict and included a provision calling for free and fair elections to be held. Presidential polls were to be held in 2005, but have been delayed several times since then.

Present at the meeting were representatives from IMS, MFWA, Panos-West Africa, International Federation of Journalists, Liberia Media Center, Network of Africa Freedom of Expression Organizations, the Commission Electorale Independante (Independent Election Commission of Cote d’Ivoire), the Conseil Nationale de la Press (National Press Council of Cote d’Ivoire) and the Conseil Nationale de la Communication et l’Audiovisuel (National Communication and Audiovisual Council of Cote d’Ivoire).