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HIFC Update Volume 1 - Issue 2
Humanitarian Information Facilitation Centre
April 01, 2010

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An introduction to humanitarian reporting

The HIFC in March this year held an introductory workshop on humanitarian reporting with journalists. The objectives of the workshop were to give journalists an appreciation of what humanitarian reporting involves with the aim of improving their writing skills on the subject as well as increasing the quality and quantity of such reports into the public domain for the benefit of the Zimbabwean community and other stakeholders.

The workshop introduced participants to various international protocols such as the CEDAW and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) from which the facilitator said the media obtain their mandate to play the watchdog role. The need for the media to understand the provisions of the various laws necessitates knowledge of what questions to ask and on what aspects to hold duty bearers accountable.

It emerged that a majority of the participants lacked an understanding of the various laws, including the local constitution. The difference between protocols and declarations was made clear, and journalists had a renewed understanding of the watchdog framework that encompasses human rights law, humanitarian and refugee laws and entailed observing whether protocols were being respected and government implements any promises made to the citizenry. Emphasis was placed on the fact that it is up to the Fourth Estate to ensure the enforcement of protocols.

The facilitator highlighted that the humanitarian story has gone beyond war and disaster to issues of general welfare and quality of life affecting the citizens of a country. "The shift to a humanitarian situation comes after the violation of human rights, where deaths and numbers of the affected, gravity of situation and disruptiveness of essential services define the human condition," she said. In the end there was an appreciation among journalists that the humanitarian story is a much larger story than previously thought after examples were cited of news services organizations like Reuters Alertnet and IRIN that focus solely on disseminating humanitarian news. Humanitarian information is invaluable among donor communities, UN, government officials, academics and humanitarian assistance organizations for decision-making and better coordination of responses.

During the workshop, participants had the opportunity to work in groups to interrogate some raw news articles submitted to HIFC as humanitarian news for flaws. They were supplied along with principles of writing a good humanitarian story, a checklist and tools to sharpen writing and- presentation skills of humanitarian news. These would also be useful in interrogating their own stories before submissions to editors.

One of the participants, Monica Cheru-Mpambawashe said she had learned a lot, couldn't wait for the second part and was going to apply the new skills to the stories she was currently working on.

Conrad Mwanawashe, a freelance journalist and new media trainer highlighted the need for more of such workshops.

"I think more of these including the empowerment of journalists in the use of new media would go a long way in informing a whole new and exciting approach to humanitarian reporting," he said. "I especially liked the link between violation of rights and that becoming a humanitarian situation. Pat Made really cleared that for us," Mwanawashe added.

Veteran journalist and media consultant, Pat Made facilitated the workshop, which was attended by 13 journalists from different media houses.

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