16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM: TRAINING FOR MEDIA ON SEXUAL AND GENDER BASED VIOLENCE REPORTING

Journalists for Human Rights JHR and the LMC believe that supporting women’s participation in peace and security is a critical aspect of the country’s priority plan for the Peace Building Fund. At the community level, sexual and gender-based violence is an obstacle to development and to the consolidation of Liberia’s peace. We consider it important that the general public is aware of the harmful consequences of SGBV and that both men and women are involved in efforts to prevent and respond to SGBV in communities.

As such, JHR and the LMC proposed to promote the fight against gender-based violence by developing and implement a training program targeting 60 journalists and media representatives and an additional 20 photojournalists, to prepare them for responsible coverage of SGBV-related stories during 16 Days of Activism in December 2012.

We were then responsible for supporting media outlets, through an innovative approach incorporating on-air forums engaging editors and owners of media organizations in Liberia, to produce ethical media coverage of SGBV during 16 days of activism.

As with all JHR programs, all activities took sustainability and long-term capacity building into consideration: 5 expert Liberian trainers were mentored in how to continue the training work on SGBV cases, at the conclusion of the intervention. The end goal was to raise the profile of responsible reporting on SGBV cases and build the capacity of local journalists and media outlets for ethical and responsible coverage of SGBV concerns in Liberia.

Objectives of the project include:

2. To strengthen the capacity of Liberian journalists to cover issues related to Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) through extensive, on-the-ground training in rights media principles and journalism best-practices.
3. To produce quality journalism on SGBV issues in the lead-up to 2012’s 16 Days of Activism, and to engage Liberian editors and owners in forums on air to discuss gender rights and coverage issues, developed and implemented, in coordination with MoGD and UN Women, and in so doing increase the media’s responsible coverage of SGBV during the upcoming 16 Days of Activism.
   To mentor five Liberian journalists on effective processes to continue this training once this intervention is completed.

The key activities outlined in the agreement for implementation included:

Journalism Training – The training  targeted 60 Liberian journalists and an additional 20 photojournalists, and took the form of skill-based workshops, community radio workshops, and on-the-job mentoring through reporting trip initiatives supported by a reporters’ granting initiative.

On-Air Forums –During the 16 Days of Activism, the project coordinator  began a series of on-radio editors panels on topics related to SGBV. The innovation to the standard approach to editors’ workshops  ensured editors’ and owners’ full participation and buy-in, as it represents a unique opportunity for them to promote their station’s work.

Liberian Expert Trainer Mentorship – Picking up on the Train-the-Trainer initiative that was already under way under the terms of the LMC/JHR partnership’s Good Governance Through Strengthened Media project, five Liberian expert journalists were mentored on how to continue training work on SGBV themes at the conclusion of this project.

Small Grants and Awards Program- As part of a broader strategy to incentivize media reporting and coverage of SGBV issues, a small reporting grant was administered in addition to the hosting of an awards ceremony for the participating journalists.