Fondation Hirondelle’s training and capacity strengthening work continues. This time in Pakistan, where practical workshops took place with our local partner, Tribal News Network (TNN), with the support of the humanitarian foundation Swiss Solidarity.

The training is part of a longer-term programme with TNN and builds on a previous project with them, which focused on countering misinformation related to Covid-19, funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.

This latest project, launched in August 2021, centers on "responsible reporting for awareness and adaptation to Covid-19 and the vaccination campaign".

The training with TNN’s team of journalists took place online over 5 half-days during the first two weeks of September.

The main topics covered were:

- Serving audiences effectively in public health crises

- The fight against misinformation and rumours

- How to develop an inclusive approach to journalism

- Adopting a “constructive approach” to journalism (including how to meet the real information needs of populations, and focus more on solutions, instead of just problems)

- Exploring new radio formats

The trainer, Jacqueline Dalton, Programme Manager with Fondation Hirondelle, said: “TNN has huge role to play in supporting otherwise underserved communities. What struck me in the training was their commitment to giving a voice to all, particularly to those who aren’t heard so often, such as women and minorities in the tribal districts of erstwhile FATA [Federally Administered Tribal Areas] and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.”

“The best session I thought was on Solution Journalism We learnt that in radio programs, we should not only talk about the issues related to Covid-19 and vaccinations but also make sure that we discuss the possible solution to these problems. We should raise hope in people instead of spreading fear all the times” remarked Iftikhar Khan, one of the participants of the training and executive producer of the radio show on Covid-19 and vaccination.

The training will be followed up by ongoing mentoring and feedback sessions, in order to help the team integrate their learnings into their work, and assess the relevance and impact of the training.

Two of the TNN participants will in turn give the training to local colleagues and partners, creating a pedagogical chain that reaches even further!