The Media Council has affirmed its readiness to share its expertise in media regulation with counterparts in the region. The Council announced its willingness to extend training and mentorship support to the Ethiopian Media Council and media organisations in Ethiopia who visited the Council for a learning mission.
The delegation was in Kenya to benchmark with key government regulatory and media training institutions on capacity building, experience sharing and exposure to training. The team also visited the Communications Authority of Kenya and the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication.
The team led by the CEO of the Ethiopian Media Council Mr Molalign Melesse and Director General of the Ethiopian Media Authority Mr Mohammed Edris were hosted by the MCK CEO Mr David Omwoyo. Also in the delegation were representatives from UNESCO, Ethiopia Broadcasting Corporation (EBS) and the Ethiopia Media Women Association (EMWA).
The CEO advised media institutions to put in place sound policies to ensure effective execution of their mandates.
“For any institution to thrive, it must have a strong foundation anchored in the law to protect it from certain hostilities that might hamper its operations”, he told the delegation.
“We have a lot to learn from the Media Council of Kenya as the leading self-regulatory body in Eastern Africa. Specifically, we are keen to learn how the Communications Authority of Kenya works with the Council while it remains an autonomous body”, said Ethiopian Media Authority Director General Mr Edris.
The Regional Expert for Safety of Journalists and Media Development under the UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa Ms Lydia Gachungi said the visit was timely given that Ethiopia has just embarked on building its media institutions.
“Ethiopia has equipment needed for training but lack middle-level training institutions for journalists. Through this experience the team can begin the journey of creating such an institution”, said Ms Gachungi.