LILONGWE: The Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) through its Social Development Directorate which comprises of the Catholic Development Commission in Malawi (CADECOM), Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP), Catholic Health Commission (CHC), Catholic Education Commission (CEC) and the Catholic Social Communications and Research Commission has on Wednesday, May 4, 2016 presented a cheque worthy K570, 000 to MISA Malawi towards the World Press Freedom Day commemorations scheduled for Saturday in Mangochi.
Presenting the cheque at Catholic Secretariat in Lilongwe, Secretary General for the Episcopal Conference of Malawi, Rev. Fr. Dr. Henry Saindi said as a Church Institution, they thought of making the donation as a way of appreciating the role the media and individual journalists in Malawi play.
He said the Church through various Commissions is championing a lot of projects which require the presence of the media hence the donation will go a long way in enhancing the relationship between the Church and the media.
“For instance; CADECOM is implementing various projects in line with Water and Sanitation, agriculture and disaster risk management, just like CCJP is working towards advocacy and promotion of human rights and as such the media cannot be left out if we are to realize positive results of these interventions,” said Fr. Saindi who is a trained communicator himself.
He said the donation is also aimed at motivating individual journalists who have tirelessly worked towards promoting all the thematic areas that ECM champions through its various Commissions.
For her part, MISA Malawi Vice Chairperson, Yvonne Sundu, commended ECM for the timely donation saying it will come a long way in realizing successful World Press Freedom Day commemorations in
Mangochi.
“We are very thankful to ECM for the timely donation and this will contribute towards activities lined up for the world press freedom day celebrations in Mangochi. The money will help us among others in transporting journalists from various regions of the country to Mangochi,” she said.
According to Sundu, this is a sign of a symbiotic relationship between MISA Malawi and ECM as both institutions benefit from one another.
World Press Freedom Day falls on 3rd May every year and the theme for this year’s commemorations is “Fostering Freedom of Expression”.
