Last updated on 26/12/2024
Journalists are a driving force behind the engagement of citizens and the various political and economic actors in relation to the scourges faced by any country or community. 43 African journalists were trained on disaster risk reduction in Kenya this week.
Disaster Risk Reduction Training
43 African journalists attend disaster risk reduction (RRC) training from 27 to 30 January in Mombasa, Kenya.
Organized by UNDRR (United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction) and Diraj (African Journalists Network for Disaster Risk Reduction), the training aims to:
– Strengthen the capacity of reporting journalists throughout the disaster management cycle
– Make reporters capable of moving into specialized and senior editorial management positions with knowledge of the placement of the RRC in various editorial products
– Pushing journalists to create concrete reporting projects, which could eventually be funded
– Increase the reach and impact of DIRAJ among journalists in regions of activity.
“We appealed to journalists to show an interest in participating in this training and to help them improve their disaster reporting capabilities. The reporters responded. Of course, we gave priority to the journalists who were members of the Diraj, but we also gave my opportunity to new journalists. We are open,” said David Owino, Secretary General of Diraj.
Training on disaster risk reduction has been held since 2013, according to his explanations. However, this training presents new features: the participation of new members, the methodology that is more based on sharing and exchanges than mere presentations of trainers.
Two main modules are thus presented: generalities on the Sendai Framework and the African context and the multiple angles of DRR. Site visits are also planned.
Challenges and solutions
Several challenges to disaster reporting were highlighted during this training. It is found that the majority of African countries share the same problems: lack of financial and material resources, climate change, poorly accessible administration, people with little knowledge of the danger, poverty.
In addition, African countries have very high exposure to danger, but little is being taken to prevent them.
In the face of this, journalists have been trained in raising awareness of the population, better performances in alerting governments, but also in making journalism a “journalism of hope”, as Kossi puts it. Romain Dekadjevi, a journalist from Tokpa radio in Benin who took part in the training.
“Risk and disaster management has been an area i’ve been passionate about for the past three years. Already last year I had some basics during the global platform in Geneva, and this training today reinforces my capacity in this direction. What we must not forget in our reports is the people. What we are talking about here is giving hope that “yes, the situation can change”. And it is we, the media, who must understand our role, not only to accompany the state but to know that we are also on the line to implement these programmes”, he said.
On the other hand, it is also important to make it known that long-term solutions and alternatives can be adopted in relation to disasters.
“During this training, one discussion that came back was that the stories are often those focused on the impacts of disasters. And during the training, we wanted to focus on solutions. The message is passing. Through the discussions, I have seen that journalists have an interest and there are already ideas that are being formed to see what approaches and opportunities to adopt in different countries”, explained Fabiola Monty, environment specialist, trainer, who has formed on the theme of nature-based solutions.
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