N’Djamena – In Chad and around the world, the media plays a key role in deconstructing myths and prejudices around migration, and in improving the public perceptions of migrants. This is why last week, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) trained 16 Chadian journalists on migration coverage techniques and approaches. Using the Solutions Journalism approach, the three-days training workshop provided the journalists with practical tools empowering them to report migration accurately and objectively and using innovative and solutions-oriented angles with respect for the dignity of migrants.

Chad is the first refugee hosting country in West and Central Africa, and the fifth largest IDP host country in the region. Due its diverse agriculture and mining resources as well as its geographic location bridging the Sahel and Sub-Saharan Africa, the country is an important hub for African migrations, attracting a growing number of migrants from neighboring countries. In such a diverse and complex migration context, it is necessary that journalists and media officials are equipped to report on questions related to migration not just accurately, but also innovatively.

“The training focused on the migration glossary and the importance of legal terminologies in reporting since various categories of migrants live in Chad”, explained François-Xavier Ada, IOM Chad’s Communications Officer. “We also explored the concept and applications of Solutions Journalism to migration reporting in Chad to inspire journalists to dig deeper and offer solutions stories anchored in evidence to foster a better understanding of the benefits of migration in the country”, he adds.

Through examples of hard-hitting reports and group work, journalists acquired new techniques to approach migration-related topics such as return migration and reintegration, durable solutions to displacement situations, and migrant rights, in a more nuanced manner. “For a long time, I thought my job as a journalist was just to expose our society’s flaws in society and I never considered that I could also showcase solutions such as the benefits of migrant reintegration, which can improve the well-being of migrants the society at large”, said Allako Mandibaye who works with the Chadian National Radio. “I was not familiar with Solutions Journalism before this training, but I now see the importance of integrating it in my work, especially when it comes to migration which is something I frequently report on”, said Samira Rabe, a reporter with Radio Ndarasson Internationale, who participated in the training.

Since 2019, IOM has worked alongside Chadian journalists and bloggers to enhance migration coverage and improve the understanding of migration dynamics across the country.

In 2020, IOM published Beyond the Headlines, a collaborative project involving journalists, photographers and bloggers to give migrants in Chad an opportunity to tell their stories and share their experiences, demonstrating the multidimensional reality of migration in the country and its benefits when done in a humane and orderly manner. In June 2022, IOM will launch the First edition of the Migration Reporting Competition in Chad to foster quality reporting on migration in the country.

Funded by the European Union under the “Special Measure Project” (SMP) which is an IOM project, the 2022 edition of the reporting migration competition is organized in Senegal, Mali, The Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Niger, and Mauritania.

For more information, please contact Francois-Xavier Ada Affana, Communications Officer. Email: fadaaffana@iom.int.