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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 18, 2006
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For more information:
In Washington, DC:
Lindsey Wray
(202) 496-1992
LWray@iwmf.org
In Johannesburg, South Africa:
Paula Fray
082-446-1073
or 011-327-0188
pfray@paulafray.com
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International Women’s Media Foundation Releases Report on Maisha Yetu Project to Improve Reporting on HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria in Africa
Writing for Our Lives Documents Project in Three African Countries
Johannesburg, South Africa – The International Women’s Media Foundation today released Writing for Our Lives: How the Maisha Yetu Project Changed Health Coverage in Africa, a report documenting how the IWMF’s innovative Maisha Yetu project improved health reporting in three African countries. (Maisha Yetu means “Our Lives” in Swahili.)
Writing for Our Lives follows the development of the Maisha Yetu project in its second phase, when the IWMF became partners with six media houses in three African countries with the goal of creating practical, sustainable measures to help African media improve their coverage of HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria. Botswana, Kenya and Senegal were chosen for the project because they offered regional diversity, different media environments and diverse health profiles.
The IWMF obtained buy-in from the top of media houses and signed Memorandums of Agreement with the heads of six media companies, who became “Centers of Excellence.” The partners were:
Botswana – government-owned Botswana Broadcasting Services and privately owned Mmegi newspaper.
Kenya – privately owned Nation and Standard media groups (both of which include print and electronic media).
Senegal – government owned Le Soleil newspaper and privately owned Sud FM radio.
“Writing for Our Lives documents a unique model for health care reporting,” said Jane Ransom, IWMF executive director. “Working with trainers from Botswana, Kenya and Senegal, Maisha Yetu brought new theories and practices directly into the newsrooms of our media house partners. It has encouraged networking, increased depth of reporting, expanded mentoring and generally changed institutions. It also empowered women. More than half the journalists in the project were women. Furthermore, Maisha Yetu can be easily replicated by other media houses.”
Key accomplishments of the Maisha Yetu Centers of Excellence include:
- Mmegi newspaper in Botswana established a health desk. Between October 2005 and January 2006, the newspaper published more than 100 stories on health and produced a special supplement on World AIDS Day 2005, which was inserted into the main newspaper.
- Botswana Radio 1 developed a 15-minute program, Letlhabile (“The Sun Has Risen”) on HIV/AIDS, as a direct result of Maisha Yetu. The project also played a key role in developing more in-depth content for Re Mmogo (“We Are Together”), an award-winning, half-hour weekly program on HIV/AIDS on Botswana Television.
- In Kenya, by February 2005, at least 42 stories on HIV/AIDS appeared in the Nation and Standard newspapers as a direct result of Maisha Yetu. At least 19 radio or television stories appeared during the same time period.
- Since August 2005, Horizon, the weekly science supplement at The Nation newspaper in Kenya has devoted some 50 percent of its space to articles on HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria.
- One Maisha Yetu journalist, Mike Mwaniki of The Nation in Kenya, took on corruption by Kenya’s National AIDS Control Council. He wrote 10 articles exposing misuse of government funds and set the pace for other journalists to expose corruption by government and nongovernmental organizations.
- In Kenya, a database of 250 journalists working on health stories was created to help them share information and tips.
- In Senegal, between September 2004 and May 2005, Le Soleil published 106 stories on HIV/AIDS, nine stories on TB and 43 stories on malaria.
- In Senegal, Sud FM broadcast approximately 40 stories on its weekly national health program between September 2004 and June 2005 as a result of Maisha Yetu’s influence. In addition, stories done on HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria by reporters in the provinces increased by 20-30 percent.
The IWMF was launched in 1990; its mission is to strengthen the role of women in the news media worldwide. The IWMF network includes more than 1,500 women and men in the media in more than 130 countries worldwide.
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For more information, on IWMF programs and projects, visit www.iwmf.org.
For the PDF version of Writing for Our Lives, go to www.iwmf.org/pdfs/WFOLforweb2.pdf.
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