Maharat Foundation organized an online debate session entitled “Free Circulation of Information and the Shrinking of Civic Space in the Arab World: Security Before Health” on 14 April. This session came as part of a series of meetings and other activities that Maharat will conduct in cooperation with EuroHealthNet, a European network of actors in the field of public health, within the framework of the campaign “ACCESS TO PUBLIC HEALTH INFORMATION : A CROSS-MEDITERRANEAN ONLINE ADVOCACY”, coached by the EU-funded regional programme Med Dialogue for Rights and Equality.

The objective of this meeting was to gather recommendations that contribute to ensuring governments’ transparency regarding their strategies to combat the epidemic and their options for health measures, as well as to work on strengthening the ability of journalists and civil society to access information and demand accountability.

Med Dialogue for Rights and Equality is an EU-funded Technical Assistance Programme with the overall objective to strengthen the role of CSOs active at the regional scale, in building sustainable development, regional cohesion and resilience, as well as in influencing policy-making in the Southern Neighbourhood and the Euro-Mediterranean Space. ‘Mobilising local communities on regional issues of common concerns to influence the agenda of public decision-makers and regional institutions, and involve CSOs in emerging regional agendas and thematic dialogues’ is its core attribute.

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Med Dialogue for Rights and Equality