The Observer newspaper in Uganda has today featured our Award-winning drama series Yat Madit in its print edition. Yat Madit uses edutainment to promote dialogues for peace building and conflict resolution in North and North Eastern Uganda. It is funded by The European Union with Europe Year for Cultural Heritage 2018 and Doen Foundation.
Read the full article here: https://observer.ug/lifestyle/57808-award-winning-yat-madit-returns-with-second-season.html
Yat Madit is an award -winning drama series which combines the use of edutainment and inter-cultural dialogues to promote reconciliation and lasting peace among and between post conflict communities in North and North Eastern Uganda. It aims to promote intercultural dialogue and demonstrate alternative ways of dealing with conflicts, leading to more social cohesion and sustainable peace among Ugandans especially those in post-conflict situations.
MFA produced the script after organising dialogue sessions within the various communities in Acholi, Lango, Teso and Karamoja to understand the key challenges they faced through the recovery process. This information was then used to create the script, which was written together with selected Ugandan writers. The various issues raised in the story are expected to present the public with different ways in which they can resolve conflicts or come to agreement through peaceful means and in the process contribute to addressing the issues faced by communities in post conflict situations. MFA held 60 similar dialogues working with 24 CSO representatives from 11 CSOs across North and North Eastern Uganda Between January -March 2017, reaching 1400 participants.
For Tanzania Media Fund (TMF) MFA implemented a training programme consisting of short training courses in basic skills and newswriting and online and investigative journalism for correspondents. The training programme was targeting correspondents working for the local media. Short training courses and review days were complemented with a 4 month mentorship programme: with personal coaching, review meetings with mentors, personal assignments, press conferences and a 2-week internship. MFA partnered with the International Center For Journalists (ICFJ). Joachim Buwembo, a rewarded journalist and knight fellow from the International Center for Journalists, supervised the mentor programme. The training programme was supported by an online platform for peer-to-peer learning and mentoring.
Results
‘’It’s Your Vote, Your Voice” Voter Mobilization Campaign: Together with Citizens Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda (CCEDU) and supported by Deepening Democrary Programme (DDP), MFA implemented a national media campaign on voter mobilization and sensitization across Uganda, ahead of the country’s 2011 general elections. The project covered two phases of the electoral cycle –Voter Registration and Voter display period. MFA developed messaging during the voter registration period, as well as the voter display campaign periods.
MFA also organised training sessions for talk show hosts, media practitioners and CCEDU members and staff on media skills and influencing the media agenda setting. The media skills trainings were conducted by a team of Channel 4 media trainers and in specific targeting spokespersons of CCEDU member organisations (in specific Uganda Governance Monitoring Platform (UGMP) who were likely to engage with the media in
the months prior to the elections.
Together with European Parliamentarians in Africa (AWEPA), MFA organised six national workshops on ‘Media and Politics’ to promote greater access to information with regard to parliamentary procedures, debates and coverage and to improve mutual understanding and respect between the media and parliamentarians through sustained dialogue. The workshops took place in Tanzania, Uganda, RC, DR Congo, and Kenya.
The Workshops were a follow up to the African News Media Conference held in Nairobi in August 2006. The African News Media Conference organised by Awepa, the Nation Media Group Kenya and the United Nations – affiliated University for Peace (UPEACE), examined the challenges facing Africa’s news media – as a watchdog and educator, while promoting transparent governance, preventing conflict and building peace. The final document of the Conference listed a number of recommendations, which can be summarised as follows:
The objectives of the regional workshops organized by MFA were:
