PREAMBLE

We, Heads of State and Government of the Member States of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region;

Referring to the Dar -es-Salaam Declaration on Peace, Security, Democracy and Development in the Great Lakes Region adopted and signed in Dar-es-Salaam (United Republic of Tanzania) on 20 November 2004;

Reaffirming our Commitment, on behalf of our peoples and in accordance with the said declaration, to develop common policies and programmes in the areas of freedom of opinion and expression, the free exchange of ideas and information, and in the area of civic education;

Reaffirming our commitment to comply with the right of everyone to freedom of opinion and expression, and the right of every individual to express and disseminate his opinions within the law, in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights 1981;

Aware that freedom of opinion and expression carries with it special duties and responsibilities for respecting human dignity or the reputations of others, and for the protection of national security or of public order, or of public health or morals;

Mindful of the important role of freedom of the press, of the media and of the use of communication systems in promoting peace, democracy, stability, security, development and reconstruction in the Great Lakes Region;

Recognizing the importance of the role played by responsible media in promoting the resolution of conflicts and restoration of peace and democracy;

Resolved to combat, particularly through the media, all discriminatory ideologies, policies and practices, all acts of ethnicism and exclusion, develop civic education policies and programs and promote policies of national unity based on multiculturalism, tolerance, and the culture of peace and of dialogue;

Determined to provide security for media professionals, safeguard freedom of media from being manipulated as an illegitimate means of inciting propaganda for hatred or hostility, war, violence, discrimination, genocide, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity in the Great Lakes Region;

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