AJAAT PRESENTATION AT JOURNALISTS’ TRAINING:ACCURATE REPORTING ON HIV/AIDS

AJAAT PRESENTATION AT JOURNALISTS’ TRAINING:ACCURATE REPORTING ON HIV/AIDS REGENCY HOTEL DATE: JUNE 19, 2010

PRESENTATION OUTLINE • AJAAT’s Birth • AJAAT Strategic Plan (2008-2011) and Website (www.ajaat.or.tz) • AJAAT challenges, lesson leant and way forward

ESTABLISHMENT • AJAAT - established in 2002; registered as an NGO in 2003; • AJAAT started as an advocacy group on HIV/AIDS issues; • Goal: To harness efforts of journalists and mainstream media in the fight against HIV/AIDS;

AJAAT’S GROWTH • Increasing membership, i.e from 10 (2003) to 120 in 2008; • Increasing membership commitments, i.e: • Increased number of articles on HIV/AIDS in newspapers, radio and television; • Members’ active involvement in all trainings; • Members’ active participation in local and international HIV/AIDS media contests; • Managing “ongea” listserv for policy dialogue on HIV/AIDS; • Office premises and a committed secretariat;

STRATEGIES USED • Capacity building – sharpened journalists’ reporting skills; • Knowledge building –enhanced journalists’ know how on HIV/AIDS and related issues; • Media competitions –promoted HIV/AIDS reporting in the media (eg. Features services); • Partnerships/Networking - established strong linkages with key partners in the war against HIV/AIDS;

CAPACITY BUILDING AND PARTNERSHIP (COLLABORATION)

AJAAT MEMBERS TRAINED

ENHANCED COLLABORATION • AJAAT collaborators since 2003: 1. TACAIDS/Geita G.M-Initial acquisition of office premises; 2. UNAIDS/UNDP-Capacity building, strategic plan dev; 3. UNICEF-Capacity building, consultancy; 4. USAID/Health Policy Initiative-Capacity building, website dev, technical support; 5. AXIOS-Media Competition 6. POLICY Project under USAID funding-Media Competition, capacity building, technical support; 7. NACP-Technical support;

ACHIEVEMENTS • Participated in developing HIV/AIDS training manual-(TACAIDS and Media Council of Tanzania- MCT); • Conducted rapid assessment on HIV/AIDS workplace and gender policies in the media houses in Tanzania; • Produced (draft) an HIV/AIDS Kiswahili Glossary to promote non-stigmatizing language in the media; • Conducted a survey on media coverage of children and HIV/AIDS related issues; • AJAAT ToTs training others on HIV/AIDS (organized by MCT).

ACHIEVEMENTS..(2) • Organizations local & international show growing interest in working with AJAAT. Eg.:- • CUAHA • Inter News (USA, & Kenya) • Youths against AIDS (UK) • Journalists groups from Malawi, Zambia, Namibia, Nigeria and Kenya

ACHIEVEMENTS …3 (WEBSITE) • Demonstrates AJAAT’s increased capacity in realizing its goal; in providing consistent service to the public; • Expand AJAAT’s features service; • Promote dialogue around HIV and AIDS-related aspects in Tanzania

WEBSITE • Promote networking with like-minded groups; journalists networks locally and around the world; • Promotes access to HIV/AIDS information to local and international researchers; • AJAAT website is already linked to search engines like, Google, Yahoo

WEBSITE • By the way, AJAAT website editor (Eric Kabendera-pictured), is among 16 African journalists recently nominated for CNN Kaiser Family Foundation-HIV/AIDS award

STRATEGIC PLAN (1) A roadmap to: • Achieving AJAAT’s goal and strategic objectives; • Soliciting support of partners on areas prioritized by AJAAT; • Effecting an running of the association; • Promoting AJAAT’s sustainability through short and long-term planning;

STRATEGIC PLAN Highlights • The plan will enable AJAAT enrol into its programs 120 editorial managers and media owners, • Provide over 40 journalists’ awards, allocate 80 journalists to rural areas; • Write 400 articles from the rural areas written, published and aired

CHALLENGES • To have strong secretariat needs staff funding-AJAAT needs support on this area; • To ensure editorial managers are sensitive towards HIV/AIDS so as to increase coverage about HIV/AIDS; • To ensure HIV/AIDS training manual is effectively used by schools of journalisms for training young-career journalists; • Adding Kiswahili language into AJAAT’s website to reach out Kiswahili speakers;

LESSON LEARNT • Journalists capacity strengthening enhances their commitment in media advocacy; • Team-work can lead achieving intended goals

WAY FORWARD (1) • Building a strong AJAAT secretariat; • Resource mobilization to implement activities in the strategic plan; • Increasing membership and influence schools of journalism to make HIV/AIDS part and parcel of their curricular;

WAY FORWARD (2) • Enhancing output of articles by print media, and reaching out to electronic media (TV, Radio) • Publishing IEC, BCC materials for journalists and general public; • Establishing a production studio for print and electronic media; • Widening partnership database in and outside the country;

WAY FORWARD (3) • To strongly advocate for issues of male engagement in PMTCT and Care Treatment services; • Campaign strongly for HIV/AIDS workplace policies in the media houses in Tanzania; • To strengthen collaboration with partners in promoting services at Care Treatment Centers (CTC), Voluntary Counseling Testing (VCT), PMTCT, etc; • HIV/AIDS and gender issues;

RECENTLY, WE LAUNCHED THE FOLLOWING TOOLS…….

AND, FINALLY…… Our motto is to see Tanzania Bila UKIMWI becoming a possible dream God Bless You NA Thank you for listening!!! www.ajaat.or.tz

AJAAT PRESENTATION AT JOURNALISTS’ TRAINING:ACCURATE REPORTING ON HIV/AIDS