Brussels, 19 September 2013/ PCBE/ACP: Press clubs and press centres of African, Caribbean and Pacific countries are now linked to the European Federation of Press Clubs. The creation of a ACP-wide federation is also in the works.

This was the result of the Memorandum of Understanding signed on September 18th by the ACP Secretary General Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni and the President of the Press Club Brussels Europe, which currently holds the presidency of the European Press Clubs Federation for 2013-2014.
“We at the ACP Secretariat are fully aware of the importance of the media and the press as a catalyst for development of the ACP countries,” Mr Mumuni stated. However, he added, “the ACP group has yet to develop an extensive, structured, well-supported partnership with the press bodies of its member countries”.
The Memorandum aims to address this by creating an ACP Press Clubs Federation. This Federation, it is hoped, should become a hub for networking and exchanging information through conferences and public debates, while also stimulating growth by sharing models and strategy amongst ACP media and members of the private sector, government and civil society.
Another key pillar of the association will be strengthening relations with EU counterparts and other regional or international press associations on an equal level. The project aims for active relations in both intra-ACP and ACP-EU contexts.
According to the Secretary General, this cooperation will also help to contribute to a “new information order” with better quality information coming directly from ACP countries to Europe and the rest of the world. ACP countries and citizens are targeted to ultimately benefit from this collaboration.
The Press Clubs Brussels Europe, represented at the ceremony by President N. Peter Nicolas Kramer and Executive Director Laurent Brihay, will be a focal point for the ACP regions given its strategic location in the heart of Brussels, with regional offices also foreseen.
(Pictured top: ACP Secretary General and current President of European Press Clubs Federation at MOU signing ceremony; Above: ACP Secretary General (second from left) with ECPF/ PCBE President, PCBE Founding Chair Maria Laura Franciosi and Executive Director Laurent Brihay)
– PCBE/ ACP Press