Cameroon Female Journalists Drilled on Hostile Environment Reporting

About 25 female journalists in Cameroon have taken part in a four-day workshop on reporting in hostile environment in a context marked by the ongoing conflict in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon.

The conference which opened on December 12 in Yaounde, organised by Sisterspeak 237 and seeks to build the capacity of female journalists in bringing out the untold stories in conflict-ridden environments while staying safe.

On the first day of training, the women were enlightened on the basics of what constitute a hostile environment by one of the trainers, Eugene Nforngwa, a journalists who has extensively covered the Boko Haram crisis in the Far North region of Cameroon.

A hostile environment is a place that could cause physical as well as emotional harm, Mr. Nforngwa told the journalists while rolling out a set of measures to be taken when setting out for a story in a hostile environment.

Mastery of the terrain, getting background information, understanding the risks as well as developing alert systems are some of the measures to take before daring into a hostile environment, Eugene Nfrongwa told the ladies.

“We want to empower women so that they can tell their stories better especially in the context where we find ourselves today. This is just the beginning and we hope to go a step further to change the narrative in the media,” Comfort Musa, Founder and Coordinator of Sisterspeak237 said.

The ladies who each began the workshop by sharing their experiences in covering the crisis in the North West and South West regions, hope they will be better armed when they leave Yaounde back to their various regions.

Source: Journal Du Cameroun