young reporters.pdf

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YOUNG REPORTERS

UNICEF empowers youngCongolese to speak up forchildrens rights, through theYoung Reporters programme.

Children under 18 constitute the largest demographic in theDemocratic Republic of the Congo. The Young Reporters pro-gramme is part of a broader initiative by UNICEF and the Min-istry of Gender, Families and Children to empower children toadvocate for childrens rights.

Design: How it works

UNICEF works in partnership with the Ministry of Gender,Family and Children to implement the programme in theeleven provinces of the DRC.

The children, aged 12-17, receive training on how to engagein advocacy and are given an orientation to childrens rights.

The young reporters are given training in basic journalismprinciples and techniques including photography, videoproduction, radio production, and writing human intereststories. The training is conducted by local journalists and

UNICEF staff.

The young reporters interview other children to createvideos or write articles, which are used as advocacy toolsand diffused via dedicated or mainstream media channels.

unite for children

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Deliver: What has been achieved

Reach:Since 2007, nearly 500 children have participated in the programme and

received training in journalism, media, and advocating for childrens rights.

Empowering the next generation:The children who participated in the

programme say that it has raised their awareness of social and human rightsissues. Many of them say they want to go on to become journalists, rights

campaigners, or humanitarians.

Building skills and confidence: The training that the children received

as part of the young reporters programme built their skills and condence as

communicators, witnesses, and advocators.

Young reporters in Goma learned about the socialchallenges of children living with disabilities incamps for people displaced by conict.

Discover:What is working

Children talking to children: Ittakes a child to get another childsperspective. When the young reportersin Goma went into the camps for

displaced people, they interviewedchildren living with disabilities. Thereporters discovered that the childrensgreatest concern was being teasedand bullied when they tried to use thelatrines. When adapted latrines werebuilt for them, it was a relief on morethan a physical level.

Empowering children to advocate

for childrens rights:The youngreporters use their unique access tochildren to create powerful stories andvideos themed around childrens rights.UNICEF helps to create opportunitiesfor the children to dialogue with theircommunity and with administrativeand political leaders, and they use theirstories to advocate for rights-basedpolicies and decisions.

Youth exchanges:UNICEF facilitatedthe young reporters participation inglobal youth events. Opportunities to

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We did a story on malnourishedchildren. When I rst arrived thereand saw those children, I was really

affected. It motivated me to write thebest story I could so that I could showpeople, show the government, thesuffering of those children, so that

Regular mentoring and accompaniment:The young

reporters achieved the best results when they were given

mentoring and feedback throughout the process, well

beyond their initial training. In Kinshasa dedicated members

of the child-friendly journalist network accompanied the

young reporters from start to nish, whereas in Goma

local trainers who are themselves graduates of the young

reporters programme covered that part. Integration with other initiatives:Many of the young

reporters are also members of their local Youth Parliament,

a government-led initiative which puts children in contact

with provincial decision-makers. The young reporters used

the stories and videos they produced to support advocacy

for childrens rights through this forum.

Richard, 15

dialogue with youth in other countries create a strong sense

of global community around childrens rights. Facebook and

Google+ hangouts have proven to be major assets.

Close working relationships with government

departments: In the places where the programme works

best, UNICEF and the Ministry of Gender work closely

together and have an established relationship based on

transparency, good nancial management, and workingtowards common goals.

Linkages with media: The Young Reporters are trained

by professional journalists who have taken part in UNICEFs

Child-friendly Journalists programme. UNICEF and the

journalists then facilitate media placement for the childrens

stories on local, national and international media channels.

Karine, 16

I think what were doing is reallyimportant. We make videos aboutchildrens rights and then we use

these videos as a form of advocacy.In Goma, there are many childrenwho are living in camps for displacedpeople. These children are really

they would do something to help them.

Participating in the programme has given me a sense ofresponsibility towards others. I think that with what Ive learned, Ican become a compassionate leader; a consciencious person. In thefuture Id like to be an internationally renowned journalist.

going through a difcult time, but I feel hopeful, because the videosthat we make can show policy-makers what the reality is like in thecamps.Because of what Ive seen as a Young Reporter, Id like towork in humanitarian response or advocacy.


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1 http://www.lemonde.fr/international/visuel/2010/05/12/temoins-du-dedans-la-crise-au-congo-racontee-par-les-congolais_1347272_3210.html

Good working relationship with schools:The youngreporters programme is time-intensive. The burden on thechildren is reduced when partner schools and teachers aresupportive of childrens participation, and when programmetimeframes take into account school schedules.

Peak moments After an advocacy initiative led by the Young Reporters

of Kinshasa, the national television broadcaster createddedicated television and radio spots for broadcasting thechildrens products, called The Voice of Youth.

In 2009, the Young reporters of Matadi discovered that at

specialized schools for deaf and mute children, the parentsthemselves were paying the teachers salaries. Based onthe right of children to receive an education, the YoungReporters successfully advocated with the Governor for theinclusion of these teachers in the 2010 budget.

In 2008, the Young Reporters of Goma produced a series of

videos called Witnesses from Within, about the lives ofdisplaced people in North Kivu. The videos were picked upinternationally by the leading French newspaper, Le Monde,and created international debate and discussion.1

When the Francophonie summit took place in Kinshasa inOctober 2012, the Young Reporters had the chance to talkto several members of the DRC parliament and to alert

UNICEF helps the Young Reporters usecommunications technology to connect with otheryoung people around the globe. Here, the YoungReporters of Kinshasa work over an internetvideoconference with the Young Ambassadors inFrance to draft a Charter on childrens rights forthe Francophonie summit of 2012.

them on the non-respect of many

childrens rights in her country. Theyalso organized advocacy games toinform other children on their rights.

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