Everyone desires to belong, to have a family, an identity, and a culture to love and be loved back; that is what makes humanity meaningful. A lot of people work toward attaining a sense of belonging and that makes life a struggle worthy to take on. With hope, it becomes beautiful to work for your life goals among people you call your own, a community you share a culture with and neighbors you laugh and frown with and a geographical area you call your home identity. A world you are familiar with; a flock you call your own; the true meaning of life.
But when natural disasters hit… such is gone in a brief but harsh moment; identities wash away; neighborhoods disappear; ancestral graveyards are washed off and people die; bodies disappear in rubble; traditional sacred places vanish with the ruins; birds and animals helplessly die. Like one abandoned in the middle of nowhere. So many years and generational struggles gone, all that is left is a life with no history and a dark tomorrow. Offering survivors hope is the greatest package one could imagine, because it never goes, trauma never goes. But one just learns to live positively with it.

Sheila Katzman, IAWRT-USA President

The International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT) sponsored a discussion on Community Media Models for Disaster Preparedness and Risk Management in New York and on international online platforms to complement the United Nations 63^rd Commission on the Status of Women. The theme for CSW63 was: Social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. Moderated by Frieda Werden, from the Women’s International News Service, discussants with different disaster occurrence experiences and from different geographic location around the world shared and made recommendations on how community radio can help the community get access to social protection and survive times of disasters.

Jola Diones-Mamangun, (pic right) head of the Philippines IAWRT chapter, worked on establishing narrowcast radio in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan. The notorious typhoon was a devastating disaster for the Philippines that left survivors without hope, fearful of the unknown and anxious. “Over two thousand people are said to have died in the typhoon rampage that engulfed the country in 2018.” (Reuters)

Life after devastating disaster is empty, communities need to get together in one trusted voice to rebuild amidst anxiety and despair. Jola, under the IAWRT banner, formed narrowcast radio to mobilize affected communities, with the Disaster Preparedness Response Radio project which aimed to create a trusted arena to talk and to listen to each other about their shared experiences after the disaster; look at how best they could work together to live again and how they could minimize the disaster effect during subsequent disasters. Despite challenges, the narrowcast radio has slowly created positivity among typhoon survivors.

Olivia Tumanong, formerly of IAWRT Cameroon, shared her experience with the role of community radio in disaster prone areas drawing examples from her home country.  She says community radio is critical, immediately after a disaster, but after a short while they face stiff competition from commercial radio stations, making it hard to break-even financially and they are forced to close. This leaves communities helpless since they end up having no direct control over so-called community radio and have no stake in the content aired.

This article’s author, Nankwanga Eunice Kasirye, from the Uganda chapter of IAWRT (pc left wth Kanya IAWRT head Josephne Karani) shared the need to revive traditional media communications among communities for mobilization, since modern media outlets are abused by opportunists. Communities do not trust modern media because of the contradictions in their coverage. Traditional media, such as drumming, would easily speak to people and earn their trust in times of emergency.

Panelists also included Susan Raybuck of KWVH-LP/94.1 FM Wimberley Valley Radio, Texas. Like the Philippines situation, this low-powered radio was set up in the aftermath of a national disaster. The 2015 Memorial Day weekend floods destroyed over 400 homes, damaged hundreds more and killed eight people in a major flooding disaster which spanned multiple counties.

Californa is alos disaster prone, “We’ve had two major emergencies in the past 18 months. People sleeping on the beach, air thick and grey – the bushfires burnt out cell towers, the internet, and phone. It was huge, huge, huge…” These are the words of panelist Peggy Berryhill of California in a video presentation about the Santa Rosa fires in California. Mainstream media was giving misinformation she said. It was the radio she founded that gave people the information they needed to stay safe. Peggy is a Native American who founded The Native American Media Resource Center. She is a Muscogee Tribal member and an award-winning radio producer.

Sheila Katzman of IAWRT-USA explains that the CSW Commission compromises 40 UN Member States who examine the CSW theme. She challenged the audience about their individual understanding of social protection floors in line with community disaster preparedness. Social protection floors are the basic set of social rights derived from human rights treaties, including access to health, education, housing, water and sanitation (Editor).

Among audience responses was the need to prepare communities before disasters hit. Communities need to be educated in preparedness and not just concentrating on disaster after-effects. If communities are prepared in advance, they will be able to control the impact and the ability to rebuild lives afterwards.

Violet Gonda, of Zimbabwe and President of IAWRT, highlighted the Philippines Disaster Preparedness Response Radio model as an IAWRT initiative to empower communities to participate in carving out their own interpretation of pressing problems at the time, to create their own medium of communication, and discuss possible solutions together for a way forward. Violet encouraged the audience to make use of IAWRT expertise, including a booklet on the Philippines Radio Experience for empowering their communities to build their own medium of communications to shield themselves from the adverse effects of disasters.

The IAWRT parallel event, Community Media Models for Disaster Preparedness and Risk Assessment was the right thing to do at CSW63. Some 56 people attended the event which was a quality discourse where intellect meets grassroots on the same playing field, with common interest goals in mind.

Only days after the event, a devastating cyclone destroyed entire villages in Southern Africa: Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Mali. We are already thinking how narrowcasting can help ease the trauma for those people.

Omnia Elalfy interviews Abeer Saady for Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism 

ARIJ makes safety advice video available in Arabic.

Abeer Saady, a war correspondent, media consultant and trainer, has about two decades of professional experience covering events in conflict areas in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Abeer has gained an international reputation for media development and training in conflict areas. During her tenure as Vice President of IAWRT, the association has carried out many training activities in countries in Africa and Asia.
 
IAWRT has already prepared the journalist’s safety handbook published by the International Association of Women in Radio and Television. In your opinion, what are the most important points regarding the safety of women journalists in this region that must be taken into consideration?
 
Journalists are exposed to two kinds of attack, first of all they are being targeted as a journalist. We know that the world has become a very tough place for media professionals of both sexes in general. Second, there is the gender-related attack, which includes more threats, to women journalists as women. Such threats include harassment, for example, harassment of journalists in the workplace, by sources, or electronic or digital harassment. There are also threats made to the journalist’s own family, which are more likely to be aimed at female journalists working in war and conflict zones.
 
In my field of work, I focus on the e-threat of journalism, because the world is relying on social networking platforms more widely now, and the journalist is always exposed to some kind of comment or attacks, across those platforms. Often threats to the press which begin via electronic means, may end up killing the reporter, in the worst circumstances. This happened to the Malaysian investigative journalist Daphne Karuana Galizia, who participated in the Panama Papers report, a large investigative project in which journalists from all over the world participated. Those who killed her started by sending electronic threats.
 
I would like to point out that any kind of harassment and electronic threat can be dealt with, and the media outlet in which the journalist works must take responsibility for those threats, and make sure that there are clear policies followed by women journalists in this regard, within each institution.
 
How can journalists and journalists deal with these risks?
 
Preparation is the key, and a journalist is professionally prepared. She or he should also prepare for it in terms of security … to ask what the risks are and who is behind those risks. In the case of press interviews, assess whether the meeting places are safe or not. Because of her or his identity, such as nationality, gender and race, assess whether or not identity issues can be hidden or dealt with, or if they are inherently unchangeable, the journalist therefore decides not to do so.
 
The journalist must take into account all the details during the execution of her or his journalistic functions, as a means of moving to the site of the event, the paths s/he takes along the way, the question of surveillance, whether it is electronic and whether there are cars following or not. It is important that the journalist does not publish all the information on electronic communication platforms and classifies information according to sensitivity and privacy. Finally, I would like to emphasize the psychological integrity of the journalists. If you are conducting an investigation like the ARIJ network, these investigations put us under great psychological pressure, and we have to know that the person is a doctor to her or himself. Do not forget that we also have to live a normal life alongside the professional life..
 
Based on your experience … What are the most important skills that need to be available to a journalist specializing in war and conflict areas?
 
The most important skills are those related to journalistic work in general, along with good experience and constant attendance at the occupational safety courses, as well as constant access to the latest things related to this, even the first aid courses, these things became necessary, and there are many courses related to mental and physical safety, First aid courses, and most importantly, the journalist has the skill to assess risks and how to deal with them.

A video in Arabic with Abeer’s advice to investigative journalists is available from ARIJ Network on Facebook 

Key Video Points 

• It is wrong to think that investigative reporters are in less danger than journalists covering conflicts
• An investigative reporter should start his/her mission by a identifying risks and do a good needs assessment
• She/he should do profile management because some aspect of profile may endanger her – a gender issue, for example
• Then build a good communication plan to make sure the editor or colleague is following up every time she does a dangerous assignment
• Travel safety means moving around to collect data of the story.
• legal safety is very important for investigative reporters -verifying information and data is a must as a heavy price may be paid for any fault.
• All information should be archived and kept even after the report is published
• Don‘t publish information from your investigative report or exchange it on social media until you are finished -then publish it.

Finally Abeer stresses that safety comes first and that there is no story that is worth our lives, pointing to the death of famous colleagues such as Daphne Galizia and Gauri Lankesh

 
 
 

 

Her Africa! Film Screenings:

From South Africa our chapter is building a “movement dedicated to the promotion and celebration of African Women Filmmakers and building a cultural institution that will empower her to position herself most powerfully” through HER Africa monthly film screenings in Johannesburg.

The chapter’s idea is for people “to come and honour and meet hard working womxn film-makers, enjoy their beautiful and prolific art and enjoy an intimate conversation with them about filmmaking.

 

In March a new web-series had its world premiere in Johannesburg. It is the first web-series to feature in the chapter’s bi-monthly pop-up cinema. ‘Single Diaries of a Jozi Girl’ is from scriptwriter & novelist, Tshego Monaisa.

 

The diarists are: Lesedi, a dancer who is dating her dance partner, Nicholas. When Lesedi realizes that Nicholas considers her nothing more than a “dance partner with benefits,” she breaks up with him. She meets Thato, an investment banker who is besotted with her but when Thato asks Lesedi to open up a dance school together, Lesedi thinks that Thato was using her to benefit his career. However, this is not the case, and she has to learn to trust him.

 

Mmule, a daddy’s girl who wants to be a writer but her mother, MaKutlwano and sister, Lerato don’t approve of her career choice. Her father, Moshe, who later dies, is however, supportive of her. Lerato sets Mmule up with her colleague, Patrick but it turns out that he is secretly gay so they become friends instead. Mmule meets Kabelo, a musician and poet who she falls in love with, but MaKutlwano and Lerato disapprove of him. Mmule eventually encourages Patrick to live his truth, and he in turn encourages her to stand up to her mom and sister. She does, and goes after Kabelo, the love of her life.

Lastly ther is 29 year old Tracey, who has not been on a date in ages. She’s worried that if she turns 30 whilst still single, she might have to to resign herself to life as a spinster. She is desperate to settle down, so she decides to go on a date with anyone who asks her which sees her go on a number of dates with hilarious consequences. When she meets 45 year old divorcee, Sthembiso he offers her security and stability, which is what she wants, but she soon realizes that she is still unhappy, so she decides that she would rather be single than unhappy.

 

Bi- monthly screenings – home cinema/instant cinema installations have been organised in 2018 and 2019 and have been increasing in popularity.

 

The 2019 pop up cinema had a roaring start with the well attended January screening of Nom’Ay Matola’s poignant ‘The things we harbour’.  She wrote and direcyed the short film about two brothers, estranged for many years, who are forced to confront their traumatic past when they reconnect to arrange their mother’s funeral.

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