WORKSHOPS: HIV/AIDS in the Documentaries by Young African TV Producers

HIV/AIDS in the Documentaries by Young African TV Producers
01-12-2005 (Paris)

12 young television producers from Francophone Africa met on 22-27 November
2005 in Bordeaux, France to edit and finalize their short TV documentaries
depicting views and opinion about HIV and AIDS from their respective
countries of origin.
The programmes make up part of a collection to be shared globally with TV
broadcasters as the first international distribution of productions
initiated through the Global Network of Young TV Producers on HIV and AIDS
workshop series.

Since the beginning of the year, journalists, TV producers, and community
radio producers have been actively working with UNESCO to improve their own
understanding of the science of HIV and AIDS; to increase their capacity to
report issues; to influence a curb on stigma and discrimination; and to
utilize new information technologies as effective research tools. The
following quotations are a few that have been extracted from individual
workshops that took place in Africa.

"The fact that someone has HIV/AIDS does not mean the world has come to an
end and the person will die just after contracting it . . . modern medicine
is now able to help an infected person live normally and longer", says Dr
Richard Amenyah, Senior Clinical Officer of Family Health International.

"AIDS is a regular subject of our health chronicles and of public awareness
campaigns . . . we have devoted a weekly schedule on health issues but we've
been carrying out AIDS awareness raising for the past 4 years . . . we are
committed [in the fight against AIDS] as [AIDS] prevails dramatically in the
city . . .", says Bonkano Bawa, Community Radio Fara (on the Nigeria, Benin
and Niger border, in the rural town, Gaya) .

"Education plays a very important role in the prevention of HIV
transmission. There's a very tight link between the two. Through our TV
productions we hope to make the diverse issues known to the public of our
different countries", declares Moussa Amadou Ba, TV Producer, Mali.

"We badly encounter difficulties . . . human resources are not always
available to put together stories and people living with HIV seldom agree to
speak . . . neither will associations finance programs", says a
representative of Fanta, Community Radio, Senegal.
"It is important for the manager of any community radio station to
distinguish between the myths surrounding HIV and AIDS, and the factual,
science based information that will hold governments and communities
accountable for their actions. Based on credible information, community
media can educate the public about prevention, offer methods for coping with
the disease, and discredit stereotypes surrounding HIV and AIDS", says
Bernard Hadjaj, Director, UNESCO Yaoundé.

Ana Nicodemus, TV Producer, Namibia: "It is of imperative importance for the
African media to . . . use this [television] to change even what is
considered impossible more importantly in the instance of stigma and
discrimination against people living with HIV and AIDS."

"Young television producers are key in the fight against HIV and AIDS. I
hope you will use your skills to investigate and produce effective
documentaries that can help break the stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS," says
Kofi Middleton-Mends, Deputy Director of the National Film and TV Training
Institute, Ghana.

"I'm prepared to take on the challenge of reducing stigma and
discrimination!", says a TV producer from Gambia.

SOURCE:
http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=20725&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
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Chris Schuepp
Young People's Media Network - Coordinator
c/o ECMC (European Centre for Media Competence)
Bergstr. 8 / 11th floor
D-45770 Marl - Germany

Tel./Fax: +49 2365 502480
Email: cschuepp@unicef.org
URL: www.unicef.org/magic
Mailing list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/youthful-media

The YPMN is supported by UNICEF and hosted by the ECMC.

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