Journalists
from Anglophone West Africa will converge in the Gambian capital, Banjul this
Thursday for a “Sensitization seminar on Anti-Money Laundering and
Counter-Financing Terrorism (AML/CFT)”.
The
June 28-29 seminar is organised by the sub-regional Inter-Governmental Action
Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) and hosted by a Network
of Journalists reporting on money laundering and related financial crimes in
The Gambia. The network will be
officially launched at the seminar.
The
objectives of the seminar are to expose journalists to the knowledge of AML/CFT
framework; to assist journalists to produce reports and articles or features of
quality on AML/CFT issues; and to improve the network of journalists who will
assist GIABA in disseminating information on the AML/CFT systems in West Africa.
The
broad themes of the seminar kicking off on Thursday include: The role of GIABA
in the fight against money laundering in west Africa; The role of the media in
the fight against money laundering; Methods and techniques of investigative
journalism; Use of new technologies in investigative journalism; Building
cooperation and reporting inside source of information; Forensic reporting;
Writing investigative features; including practical exercise and case studies.
“The
course shall be delivered by experts with extensive knowledge of AML/CFT
issues,” said GIABA, a financial action task force-styled regional body (FSRB)
established by the sub-regional economic bloc, ECOWAS in 2000.
Mandated
to protect the economies of member States from the laundering of the proceeds
of crimes, GIABA said: “The fight against economic and financial crimes is an
enormous task requiring concerted, coordinated, cooperative and collaborative
efforts by all several stakeholders each with distinct but complementary role.”
The
seminar is being held on the backdrop of what GIABA’s Director General Dr.
Abdulahi Shehu regarded as “unfortunate outcomes” of the mutual evaluation
reports of assessed ECOWAS countries showing low level compliance with
international AML/CFT standards, particularly the Revised FAFT 40
Recommendations. This, he said, is due to poor understanding of the AML/CFT
requirements.
“Central
to the effective implementation of AML/CFT regime are the mass media,
particularly in the dissemination of the effects of these scourges on the
economy and propagation of the best practices on AML/CFT measures,” Dr. Shehu
added.
GIABA
admitted that addressing the identified deficiencies in the AML/CFT measures in
the region requires “robust communication and advocacy programmes” to enlighten
all strata of the society.
It
is against this background that the Secretariat has identified the journalists
as major stakeholders in the global fight against anti-money laundering and
terrorist financing, said Dr. Shehu, announcing the Seminar on AML/CFT for
journalists from English-speaking ECOWAS countries to be held at the Laico
Atlantic hotel in Banjul.
During an April
2012
Interactive Session
for Media Executives and Journalists in West Africa, held in the Senegalese
capital, Dakar, GIABA urged
journalists to team up with
other agencies involved in the fight against money laundering and terrorism
financing in order to step-up fight against financial and related crimes.
Both
journalists and other agencies should collectively ensure that appropriate
measures are taken against the twin crimes in a more harmonized and concerted
manner, GIABA, media executives and journalists agreed in a communiqué.
Written by Modou S. Joof
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