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Ahead of World Press Freedom Day on May 3, 2024, UHRC commissioner Crispin Kaheru says the commission will ensure members of the press work under a conducive environment while executing their duties.

Kaheru says the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) will pursue this by following up on cases reported by journalists and encouraging continuous dialogue as it is happening in other parts of the world.

Kaheru says Uganda will join the rest of the world to commemorate World Press Freedom Day under the theme: A Press for the Planet: Journalism in the face of the Environmental Crisis at Makerere University College of Engineering Design Art and Technology Conference Hall. 

He said celebrations will be under the theme “A Press for the Planet: Journalism in the face of the Environmental Crisis”, it will highlight the crisis and the role/importance of journalism and freedom of expression in shaping solutions to the impending global disaster.

Speaking to the journalists at the Uganda Media Centre in Kampala on April 23, 2024, Kaheru accused some media houses of failing to prepare their journalists for events that will likely turn out violent. According to him, this causes the journalists to get injured and sometimes to lose their equipment.

He explained that World Press Freedom Day, which was proclaimed in 1993 by the United Nations General Assembly  is commemorated annually to emphasize to governments and the public at large to fulfil their commitments and obligations on press freedoms.

This year’s commemoration is spread across the entire week starting Saturday, April 27 to Friday, May  3, 2024. Activities will be held in Kampala and in the districts of Gulu, Mbale and the regions of Karamoja and Rwenzori.

He said rights of the journalist have been violated and several cases have been received and they will continue making follow up to see that they are conclusively handled.

“We also remember the journalists who lost their lives in the course of their duty and world over, 99 journalists and media workers were killed in 2023,” he added.

Kaheru said the media fraternity in Uganda is moving in unison under the leadership of the Uganda Media Sector Working Group (UMSWG), to bring attention to the global environmental crisis that has not spared Uganda and amplify the role of journalism in supporting efforts to combat it.

Some of the members in the consortium working groups include the Media Council of Uganda, Uganda Human Rights Commission and the Uganda Communications Commission. 

This will also have non-state partners like the African Centre for Media Excellence, Uganda Editors’ Guild, Media Focus on Africa and Human Rights Network for Journalists-Uganda.

Jan Ajwang, the project manager Media Focus Africa, said the rapid growth of human consumption, population, global trade and urbanisation in the last 50 years has resulted in humanity using more of the Earth’s resources than it cannot replenish naturally.

Ajwang said they are going to support journalists with the writing skills to promote the environment and was happy to see that some media houses have established desks to handle this.

She said Uganda was originally endowed by nature and at the moment the country is facing a crisis of soil degradation, deforestation, overfishing, pollution of air, increasing water demand and food insecurity among others.

She revealed that some of the partners normally are interested in media housed with existing facilities.