Eastern Africa Journalists Association (EAJA) has concluded a three day intensive Human Rights and Conflict Reporting media training workshop for 18 Seychelles Journalists near the northern beach resort of Beau Vallon on Mahe Island, a few kilometers from Victoria, the capital city.
The workshop was the last in a series of others organized by EAJA since March this year with support from the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Union (EU). Other countries covered under this project include Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Sudan and Somalia.
Speaking during the opening session of the workshop on Monday August 6, 2012, EAJA Regional Coordinator, Press Freedom Coordinator William Oloo said the training was aimed at building the skills of a cadre of journalists in the Eastern Africa Region with a passion for reporting human rights and conflicts.
"This project was conceived in response to the realization that the Eastern Africa Region continues to experience many serious conflicts which have in turn led to human rights violations, including on media freedom," he said.
He said it was important for journalists to effectively play their role of information gathering and dissemination by deliberately focusing on exposing human rights violations while at the same reporting on any emerging conflicts sensitively.
The Secretary of the Seychelles Media Commission Larrey Chetty said more local journalists needed to be exposed to new skills adding that the country faced a shortage of well trained journalists at a time when the media environment was growing.
Mamoune Sene of the IFJ Africa Office in Dakar, Senegal, said there was growing recognition on the need to continuously build the capacity of journalists to report accurately about the many challenges facing the different African countries.He said IFJ would continue supporting such training initiatives in the region.
During the three day workshop, the participants were taken through key concepts of human rights conflicts and practical ways of writing credible stories that could spur interventions from government agencies and other organizations in addressing human rights and conflicts.
The participants noted that the media in the country had not done much in the coverage of human rights due to a repressive past which had made journalists fearful of antagonizing the government and other powerful forces within the country.
The fear of media owners, which included both the government and various political parties, continued to undermine media freedom, creating a culture of self censorship among journalists, leading shallow or little coverage of many forms of violations.
During the workshop, the participants explored various forms of human rights violations and conflicts within the country including the restrictive political environment and the rivalries between political parties, concerns over land ownership and access, social and religious tensions, which though not so open, could explode in future if not managed well.
The key challenges identified included the poor management of the country's economic resources, the weak governance structures, external threats posed by pirates in the Indian Ocean increasing environmental and climate change effects that could threaten the country's lucrative fishing and tourist industries on which the country's economy was dependent.
The restrictive policy and legal media regime was seen as a threat to media freedom and a freedom of expression with some of the participants dismissing as inconsequential and non participatory some of the consultative processes that had been initiated by the government to reform media laws.
EAJA will in September organize another capacity building training workshop, this time round focusing on the safety and security of journalists.
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| Participants pose for a group photograph during the workshop |
The workshop, which brought together senior journalists from different media outlets and other key media personalities from different institutions, was aimed at building the capacity of the county's journalists to effectively handle human rights and conflict reporting.
The workshop was the last in a series of others organized by EAJA since March this year with support from the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Union (EU). Other countries covered under this project include Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Sudan and Somalia.
Speaking during the opening session of the workshop on Monday August 6, 2012, EAJA Regional Coordinator, Press Freedom Coordinator William Oloo said the training was aimed at building the skills of a cadre of journalists in the Eastern Africa Region with a passion for reporting human rights and conflicts.
"This project was conceived in response to the realization that the Eastern Africa Region continues to experience many serious conflicts which have in turn led to human rights violations, including on media freedom," he said.
He said it was important for journalists to effectively play their role of information gathering and dissemination by deliberately focusing on exposing human rights violations while at the same reporting on any emerging conflicts sensitively.
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| Larrey Chetty |
Mamoune Sene of the IFJ Africa Office in Dakar, Senegal, said there was growing recognition on the need to continuously build the capacity of journalists to report accurately about the many challenges facing the different African countries.He said IFJ would continue supporting such training initiatives in the region.
During the three day workshop, the participants were taken through key concepts of human rights conflicts and practical ways of writing credible stories that could spur interventions from government agencies and other organizations in addressing human rights and conflicts.
 |
| Participants chat during a break from the training sessions. |
The participants noted that the media in the country had not done much in the coverage of human rights due to a repressive past which had made journalists fearful of antagonizing the government and other powerful forces within the country.
The fear of media owners, which included both the government and various political parties, continued to undermine media freedom, creating a culture of self censorship among journalists, leading shallow or little coverage of many forms of violations.
During the workshop, the participants explored various forms of human rights violations and conflicts within the country including the restrictive political environment and the rivalries between political parties, concerns over land ownership and access, social and religious tensions, which though not so open, could explode in future if not managed well.
The key challenges identified included the poor management of the country's economic resources, the weak governance structures, external threats posed by pirates in the Indian Ocean increasing environmental and climate change effects that could threaten the country's lucrative fishing and tourist industries on which the country's economy was dependent.
The restrictive policy and legal media regime was seen as a threat to media freedom and a freedom of expression with some of the participants dismissing as inconsequential and non participatory some of the consultative processes that had been initiated by the government to reform media laws.
EAJA will in September organize another capacity building training workshop, this time round focusing on the safety and security of journalists.
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