Media, NGOs to Deliberate on Tenets of Democracy

The Office of the Ombudsman has organized a one day workshop highlighting the role of the media and non governmental organizations (NGOs) in upholding human rights and deepening the tenets of democracy, to be held in Maseru on October 28.  

According to a statement from the Ombudsman’s Office, the workshop, bringing together all registered non-governmental organizations and all media houses, both print and electronic, aims at establishing a closer relationship between the media, NGO’s and the Office of the Ombudsman in order to increase the public’s awareness of their human rights. It is also meant to publicise the existence, functions and activities of the Office of the Ombudsman. 

The statement said although the Office of the Ombudsman was established in 1993, it has so far not been able to ‘market’ itself sufficiently to the public. “As a result, many people in Lesotho do not know much about the Office, its functions and how it can help them.”  

The Office of the Ombudsman felt that it would be appropriate to partner with other institutions that intend working towards the Vision 2020 goal of establishing ‘a stable democracy’ with respect for human rights, hence the workshop, it said.

Speakers at the workshop will include the Principal Secretary for Communications, Science and technology; the Chair of the Media Institute of Lesotho (MILES); the President of the Lesotho Council of NGOs (LCN) and the Ombudsman, Mr. Sekara Mafisa. 

21 September 2004