Over the years, the frequency and severity of climate change events such as droughts, rising sea levels, and deforestation have forced many Africans to move away from their homes in search of better living conditions. Diaspora Africa, in collaboration with IOM Nigeria, organized a two-day training workshop for journalists across Africa on how to effectively report practices surrounding climate-induced migration and address other sustainable development issues.
Held in Lagos, Nigeria, from 9th and 10th of July 2024 and attended by 20 journalists and media professionals, the training focused on improving participants’ understanding of climate-induced migration and sharpening their knowledge of data, ethics, effective communication, and social innovation within the context of climate reporting. The training kicked off with welcome remarks and introductory statements from Diaspora Africa’s Co-founder, Amaka Obioji and IOM Nigeria’s Media & Communications Officer, Francois-Xavier Ada.
During the two-day workshop, facilitators from the media sector were invited to oversee several sessions, including communication, research, data sourcing and data mining, data interpretation and solution journalism, ethical reporting, and a climate writing clinic. The writing clinic, led by Bayo Olupohunda, was a hands-on session that exposed participants to the rudiments of reporting climate migration as an urgent social and environmental reality. At the writing clinic, participants were able to define their writing trajectories as well as map ideas for their future writing projects on migration.
The panel discussion, which was held on the second day, featured migration experts around the African continent. Led by Diaspora Africa’s Chimee Adioha and with a keynote speech by Elizabeth Oladimeji, IOM Nigeria’s Senior Project Assistant on Migration, Environment, & Climate Change (MECC), the discussion centred around the problem of climate-induced migration in Africa, as well as the policy and social implications.
The panellists, representing African countries such as Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Nigeria, shared perspectives on the challenges of climate change, especially as it relates to forced migration and displacement in the African context. The discussions reveal that climate change is a huge threat on the continent, displacing millions of Africans and leading to the loss of livelihoods, economic instability, food insecurity, and increased health risks. In light of these challenges, it is essential that policy interventions be put in place by African governments to reduce the impacts of climate change on the continent.
By raising awareness of climate and migration through active storytelling and solution journalism, journalists and media professionals can work towards amplifying the voices of climate migrants in Africa. However, the panel discussion, through its Q & A session, birthed a topic on the need for grassroots climate activists to strengthen their collaboration and response strategies with independent reporters and journalists willing to report on community-based events. Through this program, Diaspora Africa is building a network of young African journalists who are aware of the continent’s intersectional migration concerns.
The organization, with its standpoint on recontextualizing the rhetoric of African migration, has designed the training to support selected journalists as they work on their stories for the next 6 months. Diaspora Africa has also launched a web page on its homepage, dedicated to archiving the annual training as well as disseminating useful tools and resources that are freely accessible to all journalists interested in reporting migration.
See pictures from the training below:
