UNESCO trains Sudanese journalists on election reporting
23-11-2009 (Paris)
Juba training session
© UNESCO
Twelve Sudanese journalists received one-month training on election reporting under UNESCO’s programme, Joint Media Elections Training. The participants, from both Northern and Southern Sudan, attended two weeks of classroom training – the first one took place in Juba, from 12 to 16 October, and the second one in Khartoum, from 7 to 11 November. The lessons were interspersed with three weeks of mentored joint exercises.
The course was aimed at developing the capacity of Sudanese print and broadcast journalists to report on the April 2010 elections and 2011 referendum. This election will be the first experience for many Sudanese, and the media, which are an important source of news and information in Sudan, will have an essential role to play.
It is with this spirit that UNESCO teamed up with other partners, International Media Support (IMS) and the United Nations Fund for Women (UNIFEM), to provide this training opportunity specifically targeted at editors and news and information managers.
“It has been great throughout the training [and] I personally learnt a lot,” said one participant at the end of the programme. Thanks to the project, participants improved their understanding of the election process and procedures, and strengthened capacity to cover the upcoming elections. The interest and commitment of the trainees were demonstrated by their consistent and timely participation in the Juba and Khartoum training sessions.
The four roles of media during election (moderator, monitor, educator, advocate), the Sudanese electoral system and procedures, the media’s role in democracy, the safety and security issues, the gender sensitive prospective were among the themes discussed during the training.
“One objective of the training programme, in which I think we have been successful, is that of promoting collaboration and networking between media professionals from the north and the south of Sudan”, said Eunice Smith, Chief of UNESCO’s Antenna in Juba.
It is with this spirit that UNESCO teamed up with other partners, International Media Support (IMS) and the United Nations Fund for Women (UNIFEM), to provide this training opportunity specifically targeted at editors and news and information managers.
“It has been great throughout the training [and] I personally learnt a lot,” said one participant at the end of the programme. Thanks to the project, participants improved their understanding of the election process and procedures, and strengthened capacity to cover the upcoming elections. The interest and commitment of the trainees were demonstrated by their consistent and timely participation in the Juba and Khartoum training sessions.
The four roles of media during election (moderator, monitor, educator, advocate), the Sudanese electoral system and procedures, the media’s role in democracy, the safety and security issues, the gender sensitive prospective were among the themes discussed during the training.
“One objective of the training programme, in which I think we have been successful, is that of promoting collaboration and networking between media professionals from the north and the south of Sudan”, said Eunice Smith, Chief of UNESCO’s Antenna in Juba.
Khartoum training session© UNESCO
Juba training session© UNESCO
Related themes/countries
· Training of Media Professionals
· Media in Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations
· Sudan
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