Sadiq Ibrahim, elected new president of Federation of African Journalists (FAJ)

The Federation of African Journalists (FAJ), the regional group of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), elected a new steering committee at its Congress on 13 and 14 December 2018 in Khartoum, Sudan.

The Federation of African Journalists (FAJ), the regional group of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), elected a new steering committee at its Congress on 13 and 14 December 2018 in Khartoum, Sudan.

Sadiq Ibrahim, from the Sudanese Union of Journalists (SUJ), and chair of the Eastern African Journalists Association, was elected as the Federation's new president.

Following two days of debates on the challenges facing journalists and journalism in the continent, delegates from all over Africa elected the new leadership to serve for the next three years;

The new President of the FAJ immediately started the work of the new team by calling "for the solidarity and unity of Africa and all Africans”.

He said: “We will work for all African journalists. With my steering committee colleagues, we will bring motivation and experience to tackle the challenges faced by journalists in Africa. We welcome all those who want to work in this direction, for the good of all African journalists, today and tomorrow. It is our will and we will make it known to all African organizations and our national and international partners. These first steps we have taken to build a stronger FAJ at this Congress exceed my expectations. African journalists will only be strong if we are united."

"The success of the Khartoum Congress exceeded my expectations," said Philippe Leruth, President of the IFJ. “The number of unions registered - 32 of the 36 African IFJ member unions - shows the desire for unity and is a good sign for the future. Even the 3 who eventually could not attend for professional or logistical reasons sent messages of solidarity".

But what was even even better was that the quality of the debates, the openness, the willingness to address all questions, and the seriousness with which the newly elected members of the steering committee of the FAJ  and the newly elected FAJ Gender Council approached their first meeting confirmed to me that, as I had expressed in hope during the opening of the Congress, this Khartoum congress will mark a decisive new step in the history of the Federation of African Journalists. The long efforts of all to build unity and solidarity in Africa have been rewarded. "

(1) The newly elected FAJ Steering Committee:
President: Sadiq Ibrahim- Sudan
Vice President: Zied Dabbar - Tunisia
Treasurer: Maria Luisa Rogiero - Angola

Edouard Adzotsa, Congo Brazzaville;
Stephen Ouma Bwire, Uganda;
Eduardo Joao Constantino, Mozambique;
Roland Affail Monney, Ghana;
Denis Nkwebo, Cameroon;
Omar Faruk Osman, Somalia.

For more information, please contact IFJ on +32 2 235 22 16

The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 146 countries

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