The International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) is inviting applications for two Reporting Fellowships to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), to take place in May 2017.
As part of the African Great Lakes Reporting Initiative, one group of six journalists will report from Lubumbashi and surrounding areas in southeast Katanga province. Concurrently, a second group of six journalists will work in Goma, North Kivu province.
Stories should relate to those locations, and may touch on themes like civic engagement, rural development, international investment, or food security, among others. Stories must focus on in-depth and new narratives and must be significantly different from those reported on previous Fellowships.
Priorities will be given to applications with creative, thoughtful, and original pitches.
So far, 77 journalists from 23 countries have pursued a wide range of topics on political instability, armed conflicts, and humanitarian crisis in the region.
During the next two years, the IWMF will continue to lead groups of women journalists to the Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. By 2019, more than 250 reporters will have together reshaped traditional media narratives around the region.
The Fellowship starts from 4th of May 2017 and ends on the 17th.
Both groups of reporting Fellows will begin their trip in Nairobi, Kenya, where they will complete orientation, Hostile Environments and First Aid Training (HEFAT) between May 4 – 7. Fellows then depart for a week of in-country work May 8 – 17 from Lubumbashi and surrounding areas in southeast Katanga province, or Goma.
Fellows will have the opportunity to network with other journalists, report independently and collaboratively with their peers, and gain access to a variety of sources and sites related to their reporting.
IWMF will arrange travel and in-country logistics for all Fellows within the scope of the Fellowship base location and trip dates. The IWMF will also cover Fellowship-related costs within the framework of the reporting trip including travel, lodging, meals, and fixers/interpreters, unless a selected journalist’s news organization wishes to assume these costs. Visa costs will also be covered. Fellows living outside the U.S. are responsible for procuring all necessary visas, for which they will be reimbursed at the conclusion of the Fellowship.
Applicants should be affiliated or freelance women journalists currently working full time in the news media, with three (3) or more years of professional experience. Internships do not count toward professional experience.
All Women journalists of all nationalities are welcome to apply, non-native English speakers must be proficient in English in order to fully participate in and benefit from the programme.
Also applicants must have a proven track record of publication in prominent media outlets.
Applications are to be completed online between January 18 and February 21, 2017.
