NEWS / PROJECTS: Youth Journalists Raise Awareness of Children’s Rights (ZAMBIA)

Last week, after months of relative silence, Pastor George Kalamo stepped into a Lusaka courtroom to stand trial for allegedly murdering his teenage niece, Ruth Mbandu. As the news media churns out headlines related to the case, 16-year-old Kanengo Nakamba will be watching – and possibly producing some media of her own.

"It's just this case that has been looked at with attention," she says, lamenting the mainstream media's patchy coverage of defilement in Zambia.

Nakamba is one of 72 young Zambians working with the Children News Agency, a national news crew based in the Chilenje South offices of Media Network on Child Right's and Development (MNCRD). Trained under the aegis of Prisca Sikana – affectionately known as Coach P – school children between 12 and 16 years old dabble in all media streams, producing online content and partnering with mainstream entities like Radio Phoenix, Muvi TV and, most recently, the Times of Zambia. The agency has been in full swing since 2009, and Sikana envisions some form of at least minor partnership with all of Zambia's media outlets by the end of 2013.

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OPPORTUNITIES: HIV/AIDS reporting contest open [Russia]

Professional journalists and students from Russia can participate in this contest.

The Russian Union of Journalists is accepting entries for its competition on HIV/AIDS reporting.

The competition will be held in the following categories: the best publication, the best broadcast or radio program, the best television program, the best publication on the Internet and the best documentary.

In May 2013, winners will be invited in Moscow, where they will be awarded prizes and diplomas.

The deadline is February 1, 2013.

For more information (in Russian), click here.

Source

NEWS: Young reporters' network empowers youth to be heard in Tanzania (AFRICA)

By Jacqueline Namfua

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania, 27 May 2011 – Modest, 17, has been living on the streets of Moshi in the Kilimanjaro Region for the past 14 months. Despite his grim upbringing and current situation, he has found a way to get his story heard and learn new skills – by joining the Young Reporters Network.

Gaining a voice

“I am really happy with this radio training, because it has helped me understand the position I am in now and my future potential,” he said. “It has enabled me to meet many people. I have learned to operate a recorder, and also to conduct an interview and create a talk show.”

Child rights hardly feature in the mainstream media and the voices of young people remain significantly muted in Tanzania, even though they face a multitude of challenges and obstacles to their growth and development.

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NEWS: Young Reporters 2010 join Brussels’ press pack

Thousands of people marked the occasion of the European Development Days in Brussels in early December 2010. A string of VIPs – from the Belgian heir to the throne to European, Middle Eastern and African premiers – sat in on debates and answered questions about the future of development issues. The key question? Who is going to pay for future development around the world.

Among the participants of course were many journalists, covering various different issues. Together with the usual Brussels media pack, 33 young journalists from all over Europe were also determined to make the most of the occasion. Picked as the winners of the inaugural Young Reporters Against Poverty (YRAP) competition, they won the opportunity to participate after submitting exceptional articles dealing with development and poverty issues as part of the Europe-wide student programme.

During the course of the Development Days, the young reporters were charged with reporting live as the event unfolded. They did so through articles, comments, observations, notes and made films, photos and tweets, all submitted to the unique YRAP online platform.

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Young Reporters Against Poverty 2010, Brussels from European Journalism Centre on Vimeo.

OPPORTUNITIES: Minority Voices Young Journalist Award

Are you a student or young journalist working in print, on-line or broadcast media? Have you recently travelled to a developing country? Would you like to visit a developing country and do research for new stories? Are you moved by stories of marginalisation, discrimination and inequality of ethnic, linguistic or religious minorities? Are you passionate about telling the world about these stories?

If your answer is yes, then we want to hear from you.

Minority Rights Group International will present the Minority Voices Young Journalist Award to one outstanding young journalist wanting to highlight within the European media the issues facing minority and indigenous communities in the global south.

Eligibility

Student journalists or working journalists under the age of 30 are eligible to apply. Television, radio, online and print journalists are invited to compete. In order to be eligible, the young journalists would need to be registered to study at a university in the EU, working for an EU-based media organisation or would need to prove that they had been resident in the EU for a period of one year prior to the closing date.

The brief

Your story should have been written/recorded in the preceding 12 months. It should look at development issues affecting minorities and indigenous peoples in the global south. It could for example be about minority or indigenous communities struggling to access clean drinking water, women discriminated at work or children who are left out of school because of their identity. We are looking for stories on education, gender, poverty, health and the environment.

You can send us entries that have already appeared in the media or those you want to get into the media.

Note: they do not have to be stories that have already been broadcast or published.

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NEWS / AWARDS: ICRC announces winners of “Young Reporter” competition

Geneva (ICRC) – Eight outstanding young people have been chosen as the winners and runners-up of the International Committee of the Red Cross' "Young Reporter" competition, which was launched in August as part of the International Year of Youth.

Winners of the ICRC young reporter competition

The aim of the project is to give young adults a chance to speak out on today's most pressing humanitarian challenges and better understand how armed conflict and violence affect young lives.

The ICRC received almost 500 applications from people aged between 18 and 25 from every continent. The unexpected volume of entries resulted in a delay of the announcement of the winners, which was due to take place on 1 November. "We were overwhelmed by the response we got. In fact, we wound up creating three runner-up positions because the finalist entries were all so impressive," said Nicole Martins-Maag, the head of the ICRC's youth project. "In general, we were blown away by the diversity and skills of all of the applicants, as well as their keen interest in raising awareness of problems affecting other young people."

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OPPORTUNITIES: Red Cross sponsors competition for young journalists

Young reporters interested in covering armed conflict and humanitarian action are invited to enter a competition sponsored by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The deadline is October 1.

The four selected candidates will have the opportunity to attend a one-week ICRC delegation in Georgia, Lebanon, Liberia or the Philippines. The mission will take place January or February 2011, and the candidates will present their resulting news reports in Geneva, Switzerland on May 8.

Applicants must be between the ages of 18 and 25 and have demonstrated volunteer work in a humanitarian field. Candidates will be evaluated through a communications project, which can be submitted in English or French.

For more information, click here.

NEWS: Rio 'shanty town reporter' tells her story

Rio 'shanty town reporter' tells her story

Brazilian teenager Mayra Avellar was awarded the Children's Peace Prize in 2008 for organising a protest against drug-related violence in her shanty town. Here she tells how the battle between police and the traffickers affects the lives of people in her community.

I am 17-years old and live in Vila Cruzeiro, one of the shanty towns or favelas in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Vila Cruzeiro is in the north of the city. Around 120,000 people live here and at times it can be a difficult place because of the violence. It hits us when we least expect it.

We are not able to do anything. We cannot go to school, people cannot go to work and we have to stop our lives.

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