Addressing Barriers to Health Services in West Africa: Training Program for Young Journalists

The “Lever les obstacles aux services de santé en Afrique de l’Ouest” is a training program organised by the Thomson Reuters Foundation (TRF) in partnership with the Global Fund. It is open to young journalists and media collaborators from Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, and Tunisia, with a focus on health services and human rights.

The program will take place from December 2 to 6, 2024, in Dakar, Senegal, and aims to foster accurate reporting and advocacy on the barriers to healthcare services in West Africa.

This training program provides targeted, long-term support to young journalists and young civil society leaders to bring about real change in attitudes, practices and policies. Program participants will have the opportunity to go through the following stages of the programme:

• Integration into the program through individual interviews with Foundation and/or Global Fund staff.
• Participation in the TRF innovative training in Dakar, Senegal, December 2-6, 2024.
• The opportunity to access direct one-on-one mentoring.
• The ability to access legal support.
• Participation in a network of young journalists and young activists. Alumni will have the opportunity to come together at key milestones during the two and a half years of the expanded programme (2024-2026). These opportunities will include alumni events and particularly significant days, such as World AIDS Day.
• Access to other support opportunities – whether this is further training, trust law support or one-to-one mentoring opportunities.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible to participate in this training program, journalists must:

• Be full-time journalists or regular active contributors to a media publication or social media platform.
• Work and publish (or distribute) in Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Tunisia.
• Be able to demonstrate at least three years of professional experience, whether as a journalist for a media outlet, creating content for a social media platform or in another form of journalistic activity.
• Have experience in reporting on human rights and/or public health issues, or be able to demonstrate an interest in this type of reporting.
• Be 30 years of age or younger at the time of application.
• Be able to publish an original journalistic article on the theme of human rights and access to health services.
• Have a good command of French.
• A working knowledge of English is desirable to communicate with English-speaking media networks and fiduciary law.
• Hold a valid passport and be able to travel to Dakar, Senegal on the course dates indicated.

How to apply

The application deadline for this fellowship is September 30, 2024. To learn more and apply, please click here.