Decision on the AU Conference of Ministers of Information and Communications "Towards the Establishment of the Pan-African Radio and Television Channel"

DECISION ON THE AU CONFERENCE OF MINISTERS OF INFORMATION
AND COMMUNICATIONS “TOWARDS THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE
PAN-AFRICAN RADIO AND TELEVISION CHANNEL”
DOC. EX.CL/266 (IX)

The Executive Council:

1. TAKES NOTE of the Report;

2. RECALLS the decision of the 5^th Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government held in July 2005, in Sirte on the establishment of a Pan-African Television Channel - Doc EX.CL/205(VII) ADD.3;

3. ALSO RECALLS that at the January 2006 Khartoum Summit the Executive Council adopted the Report of the Expert’s Meeting held in Cairo, Egypt from 21 to 23 November 2005;

4. TAKES NOTE of the Report of the follow-up committee on the Establishment of the Pan-African Radio and Television Channel held in Cairo from 15 to 17 February 2006;

5. ACKNOWLEDGES the importance of establishing a Pan-African Radio and Television Channel which is an expression of the common aspirations of the people of Africa to a balanced information that gives a true image of the content and facilitates exchanges with a view to popularizing a project which is of priority to African integration.

6. WELCOMES the offer by Egypt to bear 10% of the project budget;

7. INVITES Member States to redouble efforts towards the establishment of a Pan-African Radio and Television channel to transmit general information under the auspices of the African Union. The Channel shall be the property of its Member States which will have the responsibility to decide on the partnerships to be contracted, in terms of technical knowledge and financing;

8. URGES Member States to commit themselves to support and speed up the process for the implementation of the Radio and Television channel designed essentially to provide the African public with information, sports, culture, documentaries and African films, likely to expand possibilities of communication among the peoples;

9. REQUESTS the Commission to organize a meeting of high ranking officials from Member States and experts to examine the various aspects relating to the legal framework, the financing as well as the technological and technical components of the project and submit a comprehensive report on all these aspects;

10. FURTHER REQUESTS the Commission to conduct a comprehensive study on the issue and submit it for consideration, first by the high ranking officials from Member States and thereafter by African Ministers of Information and Communication who will submit their conclusions and recommendations to the Ordinary Session of the Assembly in July 2007.