- Honourable Judges of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights
- Dr Robert Eno, Registrar of the Court
- Officers of the Court
- Distinguished Participants
As this fifth edition of the African Court’s media training comes to a close, a few conclusions emerge that we all share and that need to be reiterated emphatically. First, we agree that the role of media professionals is even more important in carrying out the Court’s mission at this stage when it faces a crisis of cooperation with its main stakeholders, the States. Second, it follows that the media has the capacity to play an important role in the process by which States and the public in general regain confidence in the Court. Finally, the various exchanges have provided media professionals with the tools they will need to accomplish such a mission.
It is therefore my hope that, as advocates for the cause of human rights justice in Africa, you will henceforth join the network created by the Court since 2015 and spread the word about human rights sensitive media reporting.
I therefore invite you, as media professionals, to remain abreast of the experience and knowledge shared today as you report on the most imminent events of the Court. These include the forthcoming International Conference on the Implementation and Impact of Decisions of the Court, to be followed by the Judicial Dialogue which will gather judges from both national and regional systems from across the continent. From a general perspective, you are also required to play an important role in ensuring a wide and purposive dissemination of the Court’s strategic plan to help the public and relevant stakeholders have a clear role of the Court’s vision in the forthcoming years.
Finally, I would like to congratulate once again all staff of the Registry for successfully organizing this activity, the importance of which is paramount to achieving the Court’s mission. With these words, I declare the 5th African Court media training closed
