135
The
Media Sector Support Strategy
also aims to align itself with the goals expressed in the
National Development Plan,
which addresses the information and media sector under its
infrastructure pillar. Priorities under the plan include the following:
•
Ensure access to quality, affordable broadcasting services across the country;
•
Develop broadcasting infrastructure;
•
Migrate from analogue to digital broadcasting technology;
•
Enact and operationalize laws to manage the broadcastings services;
•
Support Public-Private Partnership arrangements to extend coverage of the broadcasting
services across the country;
•
Develop and implement a policy, legal, and regulatory framework for the media;
•
Formulate and harmonize policies and laws governing private channels;
•
Develop policy guidelines for the establishment of a broadcasting infrastructure to create
more equitable access to quality program services; and
•
Reform and enable the media sector to contribute to promoting human rights and
supporting social development agendas.
The
National Development Plan’s
dedicated projects primarily concern equipment and related
needs for government-owned media, including transmitters, outside broadcasting vans and
construction at the Ministry of Information.
There do not appear to be any clear or formal alliances between the media and other sectors.
Some local media stakeholders report favorable access to government and other partners, while
others note certain difficulties; there are no institutionalized mechanisms for access, including
no law on access to information. Media and civil society do not appear to be cooperating on
common goals, whether working together to promote coverage of civil society issues, or uniting
in what could be common causes, such as the allocation of private radio licenses or the
protection of journalists.
Codes of conduct – outlining both the rights and responsibilities of media – have been
developed for the 2005 and 2010 elections.
189
In 2005, the BBC World Service Trust, the
Academy for Peace and Development and the National Electoral Commission worked with
members of the Somaliland media to develop and adopt a media code of conduct. The code of
conduct was adopted on July 6, 2005, in Hargeisa by members of the Somaliland media.
190
Interpeace and its local partner the Academy for Peace and Development, again at the request of
the National Electoral Commission, facilitated a training workshop for Somaliland media on
_ec_launches_cfp_for_nsa_2013.pdf>. and Abdi, Jamal, and James Deane.
The Media of Somalia: A Force for
Moderation?
Issue brief no. 4. London: BBC World Service Trust, 2011. Print.
189
Somaliland Media Code of Conduct
. 25 Apr. 2010. Hargeisa.
and
Media Code of
Conduct for the 2005 Somaliland Lections
. Aug. 2005. Hargeisa. <
Somaliland-2005-Elections>.
190
A Vote for Peace: How Somaliland Successfully Hosted Its First Parliamentary Elections in 35 Years
. Rep.
Hargeisa: Academy for Peace and Development/Interpeace, 2006. Print, p. 63-64.
