Republic of Mauritius- France supports Media Trust to enhance skills of local journalists

The trainings held from, 24 June to 05 July 2019, were a joint initiative of the Media Trust and the Centre de Formation et de Perfectionnement des Journalistes (CFPJ).  The two courses were dispensed by Mrs Sylvie Hamel, a representative of the CFPJ.

In his address, the French Ambassador reiterated the commitment of the Government of France in backing up the capacity-building initiatives of the Media Trust aiming at enhancing the skills of local journalists. He observed that the media in Mauritius considerably promotes the French language and culture, hence the determination of his Government to help enhance and improve the Mauritian media.

Moreover, he stated that France advocates for the freedom of the media, the freedom of expression and the rights of journalists, which are in line with the country’s adherence to the fundamental values of human rights. On that score, he highlighted that France considers it important to support initiatives spearheaded by the Media Trust to help maintain press freedom and development in Mauritius. He also announced that a financial assistance of 5 000 Euros will be granted to the Media Trust for the provision of a training aiming at improving journalistic writing in French.

As for the Chairman of the Media Trust, Mr Chayman Surajbali, he expressed gratitude to the French Government for their continuous support as regards the provision of training to local journalists. He highlighted that the aim of the two trainings were to better equip the participants to undertake their professional duties and responsibilities.

The Chairman underpinned the key role of the media in the society, more particularly its influence on the public in terms of determining ideas and creating and shaping of values.  The Media Trust, he said, is committed to provide the necessary support to help journalists shoulder this important responsibility, by helping them to continually step up their professional techniques to collect, analyse and disseminate information.