MISA Regional Director, Dr Tabani Moyo
Opening Remarks, Regional World Press Freedom Day Celebrations & Launch of the State of Press Freedom Report 2025
May 8, 2025
Johannesburg
South Africa
Government of South Africa Representatives here present
Representatives of the Republics of Eswatini, Malawi and Zimbabwe
EU Delegation to South Africa representative Larsen Soeren Hoegsbro
The Regional Representative of the Regional Office of OHCHR in Southern Africa, Ms Abigail Noko
Secretary General of the National Commission for UNESCO, Mr Carlton Mukwevho
The convening partners: Unesco; Media Monitoring Africa; SANEF; Press Council; UNISA; IGD
All protocols observed
Esteemed Colleagues
As we proceed with the Second Day’s Session of our 2025 Regional Press Freedom Day commemorations , I am, from the very outset, privileged to unequivocally state that the strides we have made during our first five years have laid a firm foundation for the new advances we must and will make in the following years.
On this historic occasion, today, we will also launch the State of Press Freedom in Southern Africa Report 2025, which marks the 5th anniversary of this homegrown report.
I am proud to say that as a people, we have every reason to be proud of our historic efforts towards setting a collective agenda in response to the challenges impacting expression in SADC vis-à-vis the tracking of the Sustainable Development Goals, as we are in the last five years of the UN’s ambitious goals.
It is even more historic as we do so at a time when the people of the Republic of South Africa are hosting the G20.
These efforts, in which you all have been instrumental, form the core of our annual plans for action and mobilisation as the report serves as the campus of evidence-based advocacy.
These plans are designed to ensure the people of Southern Africa actively contribute to shaping and advancing the right to express themselves, access information, and engage with a media that is fit for purpose in the face of ever-changing contexts as rightfully positioned by the theme of this year: Reporting in the Brave New World: The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Press Freedom and the Media.
Suffice to assert that our region has never in its entire history been at such cross-roads, battling and engaging with fast-paced changes in technology. Grappling with the debilitating effects of conflict at a global scale.
Existing with the impact of the changing climate, navigating the fragmentation of progressive forces in the age of the rise in right-wing politics, and an expression and media ecosystem that faces an existential threat due to these vices.
On behalf of the organisers of this year’s Regional commemorations support partners namely Media Monitoring Africa; UNESCO; SANEF; the Press Council and Institute of Global Dialogue, allow me to express my sincere gratitude for the programme design, which enables us to examine in depth and detail the envisaged structured mechanisms in response to the confluence of these complex factors.
With unwavering effort and strength, we can and will build and cultivate agile responses to these debilitating challenges through an evidence-centred approach to our conversations and advocacy.
An army forged from our experiences and mental power is better placed to stand in solidarity with the aspiritions of the region’s people and collectively imagine, reimagine, and construct a better society based on peace, accountability, competitive media, and responsiveness to citizens’ needs and desires.
Thank You
