The Media Council of Kenya and HAKI Africa have teamed up to advocate for peaceful elections in the Coast Region.
MCK Mombasa Regional Coordinator Ms Maureen Mudi met HAKI Africa Executive Director Mr Khalid Hussein to deliberate on ways to foster a working relationship that will ensure journalists are trained and stakeholders sensitised on the forthcoming polls.
“We have very many areas of convergence with what human rights organisations do and we always strive to ensure journalists as human rights defenders do their work diligently”, said Ms Mudi.
The two entities agreed on having an early warning response forum for approximately thirty journalists, the Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC), the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) and security officers. Haki Africa and MCK also plan to create a formidable collaboration and information sharing system and joint media monitoring during the electioneering period.
They underscored the importance of Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) and the need to hold a sexual harassment workshop geared towards sensitising female journalists in the region.
The HAKI Africa officials noted the critical place of provision of free legal representation for any gender related cases and counselling to victimised journalists.
“We acknowledge media as key partners in our work, and we want to involve them since they are crucial in reaching out to the masses through dissemination of information”, said Mr Khalid.