With the aim of promoting better collaboration between journalists and police forces during news coverage and demonstrations, a meeting was organized on Tuesday, June 13, 2023 in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. This initiative brought together around a round table the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco), the Ministry of Communication and Media, the Congolese National Police (PNC), the Union of the Congolese Press (UNPC), and Journalists in Danger (JED).
The main objective of this meeting was to discuss good practices in news coverage and the protection of journalists during public events. During this meeting, media professionals and police inspectors pledged to act effectively in a logic of protection of journalists by the police and respect for the provisions put in place by the police in terms of maintaining public order during demonstrations.
According to Isaias Barreto Da Rosa, Unesco country representative, the holding of this round table is part of coordination and collaboration efforts and constitutes an opportunity for the press and the police of the DRC to appreciate good practices together. and relevant actions to consolidate a climate of trust between the two parties. He also assured of Unesco’s support to continue to mobilize all capacities to support journalists and the country’s police forces in their efforts to stabilize their collaboration for the respect of press freedom and imperatives of maintaining public order.
At the end of the discussions, a memorandum of understanding and collaboration was signed between the parties. This protocol aims, in the medium term, to harmonize the collaboration between the two organizations with a view to promoting journalism that respects the imperatives of maintaining public order on the one hand, and on the other hand, to guarantee the safety of journalists in the field by a solemn undertaking by the police to guarantee them the full enjoyment of their freedom to gather information in the field, even during operations to maintain public order.
This round table represents an essential link in a UNESCO action program implemented since 2010 called “Media and information education”, focusing on freedom of expression in the face of the imperatives of maintaining public order. This program included a series of five seminars, including one in Kinshasa and four in the provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu, Kongo Central and Kasaï Oriental.
This meeting therefore remains an important step for the protection of journalists and the defense of press freedom in the Democratic Republic of Congo.