The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Economics and Public Administration has completed its two-day visit to the Zambezi Region.

The committee, headed by member of parliament Sebastiaan Karupu, explained the visit was a result of petitions by civil society organisations that complained about the standard of abattoirs and quarantine facilities in the northern communal areas (NCAs) and the urgent need to revive livestock markets in said areas.

A West African researcher, Dr. Caroline Da Costa, says media coalitions in West Africa tend to be ad hoc in nature, limiting their effectiveness in addressing issues journalists face in the region.

Media coalitions are generally aimed at fostering an enabling environment for journalism and freedom of expression.

Dr. Da Costa was commissioned by the Danish-based media development organisation International Media Support to investigate the challenges of media coalitions in a sub-region marked by military upheavals such as coup de tats.