Members of the Pacific Anti-Corruption Journalists Network (PACJN) have renewed their call for greater Right to Information in the region to strengthen anti-corruption reporting.
At a Dialogue on Media Freedom through Integrity – Codes of Conduct & Reporting Corruption as part of this week’s Pacific Media Conference being held in Niue, regional journalists took stock of the need for enhanced Codes of Conduct and other advocacy to promote the integrity of anti-corruption and investigative journalists.
“All our Pacific leaders have adopted the Pacific regional roadmap on anti-corruption, the Teieniwa Vision, and we need to be holding leaders to account to their commitments to the right to information, the need to protect genuine whistle-blowers and for an independent civil society and responsible media to be involved in national and regional anti-corruption efforts,” said PACJN Chair and Tonga journalist, Kalafi Moala, at the dialogue supported by PACJN and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
“Journalists are taking ownership of their own ethical standards so as the community can be confident of the content they receive from reputable journalists, particularly around anti-corruption. This helps ensure that journalists are a key motivator in turning our leaders’ anti-corruption commitments in Teieniwa Vision into weapons for access to information, whistleblowing and accountability,” said Moala.
Veteran Niue broadcaster and now Speaker of the Niue Parliament, Hima Douglas, announced at the Dialogue that as Speaker he would request an update from Government on Niue’s progress to introduce Right to Information legislation, which was first mooted at consultations with parliamentarians, media, civil society and UN stakeholders at the end of 2022.
“RTI helps to secure the participation of citizens in society and to protect human rights. It helps individuals to access information, ultimately accelerating efforts to reduce corruption and strengthen transparency. RTI also provides a valuable tool for journalists to inform the public on important matters of public interest,” said UNODC Pacific Regional Anti-Corruption Adviser, Marie Cauchois.
“UNODC works in all 14 Pacific Island countries promoting RTI, including Niue where we are also assisting in developing Anti-Money Laundering compliance.”
UNODC as the custodian of the UN Convention against Corruption, and facilitator of the original Teieniwa Vision adoption conference, are partnering with the Pacific Islands Forum on assisting member countries to implement Teieniwa Vision commitments, with support from the New Zealand Government through MFAT.
