Joyce Namugambe
As the working conditions of journalists in the country continue to be unfair, media organisations in different umbrellas in the country, continue to advocate for freedom of journalists through different methods of seeking to achieve this.
For Uganda Media Women Association, it continues to train female journalists in different fields, to help them acquire more knowledge and skills on how to take on their journalism work safely through the challenges they through, sothat they can gain from their sweat as they feel appreciated by the society as well as being protected.
In one of the steps that UMWA has taken to achieve this, it has organised different training sessions using different facilitators to help female journalists share their experiences, presenting challenges and devise means of finding solutions to the challenges presented, as away of harmonising their work.
UMWA, with the efforts of a role model and a mentor to many Margret Sentamu, it has managed to find opportunities for female journalists to voice out their challenges seeking for answers from authorities which has been positive, and she is still spear heading the move.
Margret has been able to organise trainings for female journalists in different fileds such digital rights, safety and security for female journalists, which aimed at educating female journalists on how to keep safe online to avoid online harrassment, Gender Sensitive Reporting which higlighted on how to bring out Gender sensitive stories through balancing them with both men and women voices, fact checking training aimed at educating female journlists on issues concerning producing stories based on facts and truth, Reporting on organised crime with an aim of helping journlists on how to prepare for crime and investigative stories before going deep into them, for their safety and other issues concerning such stories, among other trainings.
In so doing, UMWA takes time to follow up the female journalists who go through their trainings to ensure that they not only end at the trainings, but they put into practice the knowledge they acquire through the trainings.
After the Organized crime reporting training held in June this year, UMWA on 30 August 2023 met the journalists who participated in the training at their Premises in Kisaasi to find out how they have applied the knowledge they acquired and also to see how they can be helped to continue with their investigative reporting.
The communications and advocacy officer in UMWA Brenda Namata notes that UMWA is continuously working towards building partnerships with diverse actors particularly with in the media civil society, who have the capacity to support journalists on the role of investigatve journalism in crime reporting.
She adds that they believe that Human rights defenders in the country are there to help where needed during this kind of reporting, especially through providing support as far as relocation is concerned, to adress the issue of safety and security for journalists, providing small grants in different thematic areas and to ensure that they lobby and extend resources towards these thematic areas particularly to female journalists.
She adds that they are also working towards building partnerships with international space to see that there is provision of small granting to facilitate journalists during investigative Reporting since it requires resources yet some journalists can not afford.
UMWA facilitator Leila Ndagire advised journalists not look to lose hope but to start with small stories until they graduate to big stories. She added that they should not rush into big stories when they are not well prepared for them.
Among the participants who attended the meeting, an Editor from the daily monitor Irene Abalo appealed to female journalists never to get tired of applying for grants through the challenges they go through, so that they can get support to produce their investigative stories since it requires funding.
In the same way, the Media focus on Africa Uganda Project officer Ruth Nagudi, challenged female journalists to always be prepared for every opportunity that comes their way so that they can excel in their work. She sited acquiring passports as key to opportunities from out side the country as many journalist miss international opportunities due to lack of passports.
