About 60 leading Parliamentarians, political journalists and media managers from Eastern and Southern Africa; South Asia; South East Asia and Australia are expected to attend the Conference.
Dr Frene Ginwala, the Speaker of the National Assembly and Ms Naledi Pandor, Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces will both join the CPA’s Secretary General, Hon Denis Marshall and World Banks Institute’s Mr Tim Carrington during the Official Opening Ceremony of the Conference on the 15 April 2002 at 09h30.
The first CPA "Parliament and the Media" Conference was held in New Delhi, India in February 2000.
The focus of this year’s conference is to enable senior Parliamentarians and media representatives from Indian Ocean Rim Commonwealth Countries, a region where tensions between the media and several governments have recently been an issue, to:
Identify ways to improve relations between Parliament and the media.
Examine the proper ethical standards, which should govern dealings between Parliament and the media, the two institutions, which are central to the provision of effective democratic government.
Among other goals, the Cape Town Conference will seek to refine and expand the "Points of Agreement" hammered out in New Delhi.
Also to be included in the discussions will be the proper roles of both journalists and the politicians in combating corruption in public service; protection of human rights and provision of better information to the public.
Freedom of information legislation, standards of responsible reporting, media ownership and regulation, media access to Parliaments and Members of Parliament and their committees will be on discussions, as well, along with rules on the disclosure of Member’s interests.
The conference will also seek ways of deeply entrenching to all societies the acceptance of the concepts of an open and effective Parliament and a free and independent media.
