We had a successful dialogue on GBV in Jinja city. MFA is using edutainment, media and dialogues to fight GBV against women and girls and to promote women’s rights at the grassroot levels of the most affected communities . With support from Urgent Action Fund, MFA has partnered with ADOVIC , a community based organization for facilitate the dialogues.
countries: Uganda
Kitgum Community Dialogues on GBV
Media Focus On Africa is working with local media houses & CSOs to act against Gender Based Violence. Using short radio plays based on real-life news stories about #GBV that aired in these local radio stations, we are creating platforms for meaningful discussion and problem solving through radio talkshows & community dialogues. For the past two weeks, the community dialogues have taken place in Kitgum- in partnership with Kitgum Women’s Peace Initiative- Kiwepi. This week we are in Jinja in partnership with ADOVIC
Holding Community Dialogues (Training)
Through community dialogues, radio skits and talkshows, we propose to raise awareness and understanding on women’s rights and to put the current situation of Gender Based Violence and discrimination at the centre of the conversation.
Media Focus on Africa – Uganda with support from Urgent Action Fund trained upto 7 (Seven) Civil Society Organisations on how to undertake successful yet impactful community dialogues on the quest to fight and End Gender Based Violence.
World Press Freedom Day 2022
World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) is an annual celebration of press freedom, observed on every 3 May and whose main celebration is organized by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
It serves as a reminder to governments of the need to respect their commitment to press freedom and is also a day of reflection among media professionals about issues of press freedom and professional ethics.
Media Focus On Africa – Uganda joined UNESCO, Uganda Human Rights Commission and other Human Rights advocates in government, in commemoration the World Press Freedom Day. This year’s theme was “Journalism under Digital Siege”
Gender Sensitivity Reporting
Media Focus On Africa organized a two day Gender training workshop was held on Thursday 27th and Friday 28th January 2022 at Eureka Hotel in Kampala. 23 participants attended in person. 3 commuted while the 20 resided at the hotel for three nights.
The sessions were mostly interactive; as participants discussed practical ways to apply the key gender and media viability lessons learned over the year in their media houses. Overall goal was to create gender policies and enforce them. Topics covered in the training include;
1. Importance of gender inclusion in the newsroom
2. Gender statistics in the media- with a bias on the sexual harassment statistics on newsrooms
3. Critical gender challenges in the media
4. Developing policy guidelines
The training structure consisted of dialogue, presentations , group work and and assignment that the participants took home. Tools like the Jam board were used which enabled online participants to contribute to the discussions
Training on Digital inclusion in Uganda
Media Focus in Africa (MFA), partnered with UNCDF to train journalists from across the country on how to meaningfully report on the digital economies. The two-day online training focused on reporting on digital inclusion in Uganda.
News editors and senior journalists from locations where UNCDF has implemented digital projects were selected to attend the training. Other business reporting journalists from within Kampala also joined in the training. There was a mix of print, television, radio and online journalists.
20 participants attended this particular training.
Community Media Fund
The Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa (BMIA) and the Ford Foundation have partnered to establish a Community Media Fund (CMF) providing critical philanthropic support to enhance citizens’ access to relevant information that enables the public to hold officials accountable and to urge support for policies and practices that promote inclusive economic and human development. For more details – https://www.bmia.org/community-media-fund/
Investigative Sports Reporting Fund
28 October 2021: Sport has played an important role in society for thousands of years. Around the world, it brings people together from all backgrounds and all walks of life. The Thomson Reuters Foundation has a funding programme for journalists in Africa who want to report on how sport is run in their own country or wider region. Application deadline is 28th October 2021.
Learn how you can apply here – https://www.trust.org/media-development/opportunities/?sfid=a053z00000ppJKvAAM&sfProgId=a15D0000018xcQuIAI&areaOfFocus=Equality+and+Tolerance
World Congress on Information Technology and Computer Science (WCITSC)
9 October 2021: The conference provides a platform for professionals involved in Information Technology and Computer Science to exchange knowledge and gain an insight into the state of the art in the current technology, techniques and solutions in Computer Science as they have been developed and applied in different countries. Participants include a wide variety of stakeholders from research and academia, to industrial sectors as well as government organizations.
International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists
The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 2 November as the ‘International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists’ in General Assembly Resolution A/RES/68/163. The Resolution urges Member States to implement definite measures countering the present culture of impunity. This day is commemorated every year on 2nd November a date which coincides with the day when tow French journalists were assassinated in Mail.
