In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful
May Allah’s blessings be upon His noble Prophet
- Honourable Human Rights Commissioner
- President of the National Human Rights Commission
- President of the High Authority for the Press and Audiovisual Media
- Director of the President of the Republic’s Media Office
- Your Excellencies, Ambassadors
Heads of media organisations
- President of the Mauritanian Journalists’ Union
- Head of the Al Jazeera Centre for Public Liberties and Human Rights
- Director of the United Nations Centre for Human Rights Training and Documentation
Ladies and gentlemen
Allow me first to express my joy and pleasure at sharing this distinguished media event with you. It brings together experts and people interested in media affairs from different countries and backgrounds, combining the experiences of various media and human rights organisations to promote and expand press freedoms.
Distinguished participants,
Our country’s hosting of this meeting, organised by the Mauritanian Journalists’ Union in cooperation with the Al Jazeera Centre for Public Liberties and Human Rights and in partnership with the United Nations Centre for Human Rights Training and Documentation, clearly reflects the importance that President of the Republic Mr Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani gives to the media’s mission in its different dimensions. It reflects his firm belief in the importance of journalism’s role in consolidating democracy and achieving development.
On this basis, the Government of Prime Minister Mr Mohamed Bilal Messoud has worked hard to achieve numerous advances in promoting and professionalising the media and strengthening press freedoms by developing the profession’s legal framework, reinforcing its institutional foundations and supporting those working in it.
Distinguished participants,
This meeting, with its multiple objectives, provides training for a group of media professionals and a platform for discussion and exchange of expertise. It offers an important opportunity to learn first-hand from long-established institutions’ experience in human rights and freedoms, enriching and strengthening national media experience in these areas.
I take this opportunity to invite participants to gain the greatest possible benefit from this training. I hope that the international seminar held alongside it will produce constructive recommendations that strengthen press freedoms and advance media action in the service of development.
With Allah’s blessing, I declare open the international seminar on the importance of respecting press freedom, protecting journalists and ensuring their safety during field reporting, together with the accompanying training course.
Peace, mercy and Allah’s blessings be upon you.