Dear partners,
Dear nominees,
Honorable guests,
Ladies and gentlemen in your ranks and capacities
Ladies and gentlemen

I welcome you to the 4th edition of ^MaMA , to celebrate professionalism and journalistic excellence in Mali.

The objective of MaMA is to promote professionalism, Excellence and respect for the principles of ethics and journalistic ethics in Mali.

From its creation in 2017 to the present day, the MaMAs have registered 480 applications, including 100 for the MaMA20, 23 winners, including 07 at this 4th ^edition .

The MaMA20 are introducing for the first time, on the occasion of this 4th edition, a PRESS CARTOON category .

Media monitoring allowed us to see the talent of Malian cartoonists as well as the potential that press cartoons can have in promoting good governance.

Honorable guests, ladies and gentlemen

Like:

• Boubacar SIDIBE, MaMA17 winner,
• Ms. Fatim TOURE, winner of the MaMA18, now resident representative of an international NGO,
• Harouna SISSOKO laureate MaMA18 journalist at kunafoni.com and TV5 Monde reporter in Mali,
• And two more of our MaMA18 and MaMA19 winners who will join the RFI editorial team in Dakar from September 2020,

We are proud to see that the MaMAs have helped pave the way to better professional prospects for winners of all editions.

Allow me to this effect, to address my cordial congratulations to our dear members of the Jury for their rigour, their professionalism in the selection of the nominees and the designation of the laureates.

Indeed, Mr. President of the Jury, dear eldest Pr Diomansi BOMBOTE, you and your team have honored your reputation as distinguished and exceptional professionals in the media sector in Mali and internationally. On behalf of Tuwindi and our partners, I reiterate our congratulations and renew our confidence in you for MaMA21.

Likewise, allow me, honorable guests, ladies and gentlemen, to express my deep gratitude to our valued partners, these legends, without whom MaMA would not have garnered so many positive results and become the you of the most important journalistic excellence in Mali.

Dear nominees,

Your hard work and the quality of your results have brought us to this stage of the competition. The particularly high level of the competition and the pronounced requirement of the jury for quality and innovation require exceptional journalists. Because you are here, then you are one or already embody the potential. I congratulate you and I look forward to counting you in the league of winners, which will be a space for sharing and professional development for you.

Dear Partners,
Honorable Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen

We created the MaMAs, because we want high-end journalism to inform and educate the population; promote transparency in public affairs and encourage – or if necessary – force leaders to be more responsible and accountable to the people and finally fight against media precariousness resulting in a precariousness of bodies and ultimately media professionals.

These objectives will be difficult to achieve in the current context of multifaceted and multisectoral crisis where day after day, we see flagrant violations of human rights, restrictions on freedom of expression including freedom of the press whether conventional or online. .

The COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated the already difficult living conditions of media professionals and companies, in particular journalists and private press companies. Many have seen their purchasing power wither and many newsrooms go bankrupt.

Public aid to the press and support from financial partners are insufficient to promote a quality press.

This is why, dear partners, honorable guests, I would like to formulate here a plea to the public authorities, technical and financial partners to support the Malian press, in particular during this period, how many criticize, to inform the population on violations of human rights and freedoms and on economic crimes, supporting media companies in order to protect the jobs of journalists.

For this purpose, I recommend:

1. Strengthen the protection of journalists;
2. Increase financial support for media development by increasing this fund from 200 million FCFA to 1 billion per year over the next 5 years in order to accelerate the emergence of professional and independent media companies at the height Mali’s challenges;
3. Make the online press benefit from the current public aid to the media and regulate it;
4. Increase efforts in the fight against false information and media literacy;
5. Review the texts regulating digital communications in Mali, in particular the law on cybercrime which constitutes a potential threat to freedom of expression and including freedom of the press;
6. Strengthen support for gender-sensitive journalism;
7. Promote self-regulation of the media in order to reduce professional abuses.

Honorable guests,
ladies and gentlemen,

Dear nominees
, I thank you for your presence, testimony of your commitment to journalistic excellence and wish you a pleasant ceremony.

Thank you

Bamako August 28, 2020

TOGOLA

CEO, Tuwindi