North Kivu Reporters Learn to Look After Themselves

Project staff travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, in November to give a three-day training course on operating in a conflict zone for women journalists in North Kivu province.

The course combined seminars on international standards of journalism with security and medical training. War has raged in eastern DRC since the late Nineties, meaning few local reporters have had the opportunity for formal training and often find themselves in danger when going out on assignment.

Participants said they gained a great deal from the course given by IWPR's international justice project manager Lisa Clifford and security expert Caroline Neil, a former officer in the British army.

"You were the first to come to Goma to help women journalists to look after their security."

"We have learned how to ensure our security, physical protection and about important medical aspects while working in a hostile environment," said Marie Noellard Muhindo, a journalist with Congolese state radio.

"You are the first organisation to have thought of women journalists in Goma."

The November course followed on from a June training session, also in Goma, offering security and medical tips to ensure journalists reporting in eastern DRC can work more safely.

"We live in a country torn by war and knowing how to take care of yourself is very good," said course participant Esperance Nzigire, a reporter with RAO FM, one of IWPR's Goma-based radio partners.

"You were the first to come to Goma to help women journalists to look after their security," added another participant.

In another local development, DRC journalists say that they have been encouraged by recent IWPR coverage of two detained human rights activists to discuss subjects that they would not usually talk about.

Golden Misabiko, who is president of the African Association for the Defence of Human Rights, ASADHO-Katanga, was arrested on July 24 following the publication by his organisation of a report alleging that the government was exploiting uranium mining in the south-east of the country.

He was subsequently charged with "publishing false information with intent to harm" and sentenced to a year in prison, of which eight months were suspended.

Mulumba Kapepula, a national railway employee, was arrested on June 5 and charged with insulting the head of state, when he accused the government of under-paying public sector workers. He was allegedly tortured while in detention, but was subsequently released without charges being brought.

The controversial subjects of uranium mining and the arrests of rights activists are often avoided by journalists working in the Katanga region of the DRC, where Misabiko works and where much of the country's minerals are mined.

But, after the publication of the IWPR article about Misabiko's case, journalists said they felt less restrained to talk about such problems.