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the project is that the European Federation of Press
Clubs will share know-how and experience for the
creation of an African Federation of Press Clubs in
the near future. For the time being the Kigali Press
Club will be active in opening the way for future
memberships for the International Association of
Press Clubs from several African press clubs.
At the start of the General Assembly, before each
individual press club present in Geneva gave its presentation on the activities of the year, there was the
traditional handover of roles from the previous 20152016 presi- dency, held by the Circolo della Stampa of
Milano to the Geneva Press Club who has managed
the Federation during the last 12 months. And so
it was Mrs Gabriella Piroli, a journalist working in
Milano and member of the Lombardy of ce of the
FNSI (Federazione Nazionale Stampa Italiana), who
represented the Circolo della Stampa president, and
of cially handed the “crown” of the European Federation presidency to Mr Guy Mettan, the long-standing
head of the Geneva Press Club.
The members present also voted on future presidencies of the European Federation and of the International Association, with Warsaw in 2017, hopefully
New York or USA in 2019, London in 2020.

After going round the table when every club
explained its activities and philosophy, particularly
in defending the freedom of the press in a period
when the profes- sion is becoming really dangerous
in many countries, some basic principles inspiring
the activities of the press clubs in Europe and in the
world were empha- sised. The presence of the Bielorussian representatives provided the opportunity
to reiterate the importance of an independent press.
This is why the Bielorussian journalists need to be
supported. The secretary general of the International Association of Press Clubs, Jaroslaw Wlodarczyk
explained that in the IAPC specific support will be
offered to students of journalism to help them participate in speci c European Union programmes such
as “Erasmus plus”. The International Association has
also launched a project of getting journalists to give
lectures to university students in their countries
about issues linked to journalism.
The Jerusalem Press Club announced their international conference on press freedom to be held in
May 2017 whereas the International Association
of Press Clubs through their secretary general
announced an initiative on May 3rd 2017 to honour
fallen journalists all over the world

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