Koror (Palau), 31 May 2023 - Building on their ongoing reporting on integrity and anti-corruption issues in Palau, local journalists have committed to ensuring their own actions are transparent and accountable by adopting the first Code of Conduct for the Palau Media Council (PMC)
At the conclusion of a refresher training course coordinated by the Pacific Anti-Corruption Journalists Network (PACJN) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Koror on 31 May, the PMC membership unanimously agreed to adopt a new Code of Conduct. This event gathered 16 participants from the Palau Media Council, PACJN, Pacific Islands News Association (PINA), and the Palau Ministry of Finance.
PMC President Leilani Reklai said that the adoption of the new Code builds on the work local journalists have undertaken to be more aware of the impact of corruption and how to prevent corrupt practices.
“When we first formed the PMC, adopting a Code of Conduct was one of our key targets, and now that our members are better informed on the impacts of corrupt behaviour and the importance of journalists demonstrating that we must act ethically it is a great achievement that we have formally now adopted our own Code,” noted Ms. Reklai.
PMC Vice President Kambes Kesolei, who chaired the adoption meeting said that local journalists were now much better prepared to present complex, difficult corruption stories.
“Corruption is a global issue – it doesn’t stop at our national boundary. We can see that since the establishment of the PMC and our willingness to learn good reporting techniques from the Pacific Anti-Corruption Journalists Network and UNODC, that we can better inform the Palau community,” Mr. Kesolei stated.
Over the past three years, members of the Palau Media Council have undertaken training on the UN Conventional against Corruption, the Pacific’s regional roadmap - the Teieniwa Vision - which Palau adopted through its Pacific Islands Forum membership, the UNODC Investigative Toolkit for Journalists, Financial Reporting, and specific sessions with local integrity agencies such as the Public Auditor, OSP and Attorney-General’s department.
Earlier, two new Palau journalist anti-corruption grants were launched at a meeting between Palau Media Council journalists, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Pacific Anti-Corruption Journalists Network (PACJN) representatives in Koror on 19 May.
The grants, being implemented by PINA through PACJN, aim to build the capacity of selected national media associations and journalists from the Pacific nations to strengthen their capacity to report on integrity issues identified through the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) and Teieniwa Vision implementation.
The Building the Capacity of Pacific Media to Report on Anti-Corruption project grant to PINA is administered by UNODC through the UN Pacific Regional Anti-Corruption Project (UN-PRAC), supported by the New Zealand Aid Programme (MFAT).
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