 has trained 25 journalists in South Sudan on the role of media in human rights reporting, with an emphasis on gender lens journalism and amplifying the voices of women and girls.){kind=link}
By Ginaba Lino
Journalists for Human Rights (JHR) has trained 25 journalists in South Sudan on the role of media in human rights reporting, with an emphasis on gender lens journalism and amplifying the voices of women and girls.
The one-day training, held under the theme “The Role of Media in Human Rights Reporting,” covered human rights reporting frameworks, story development, gender perspectives and the foundations of human rights.
Speaking during the training, JHR Country Manager Mary Ajith urged journalists to examine how human rights violations and accountability failures affect people’s daily lives, particularly women and girls.
She encouraged reporters to go beyond identifying wrongdoing and investigate its consequences for affected communities.
“For example, if the money that was meant for a hospital is missing, then children are dying out of malaria because they don’t have access to medication,” Ajith said, illustrating the importance of connecting accountability issues to their human impact.
Ajith said JHR is implementing a four-year project funded by Global Affairs Canada across 11 countries, including South Sudan. The initiative seeks to strengthen women’s and girls’ participation in decision-making and address gender inequalities in targeted communities.
She added that human rights reporting was also relevant to elections because it could highlight issues affecting citizens’ rights and participation in public affairs.
According to Ajith, JHR received 73 applications from South Sudan, from which 25 journalists were selected for the in-person training. Those not selected are expected to have opportunities to participate in online sessions covering similar topics.
Ajith encouraged participants to apply the knowledge gained by producing stories that investigate human rights concerns and reflect the experiences of affected communities.
The training is part of JHR’s initiative to amplify the voices of women and girls by strengthening journalists’ capacity to report on human rights issues and promote greater representation of women’s experiences in the media.