Five-day training for Tanzanian journalists

The training will commence on Monday, 15 to 19 December 2008 at the IJMC, Kijitonyama Dar es Salaam. The official opening of the training will be on Wednesday 17 December 2008. The UNESCO country director and representative Cheikh Tidiane Sy will officiate the opening.

This training aims to strengthen local journalists' investigative and analytical skills so as to better serve their profession. The training follows consultative meetings held by the UN and the media in both Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar on the need for capacity building for journalists in the spirit of UN reform. The funding of this training was made possible through, "Delivering as One" UN reform initiative that is on-going in the country in which Tanzania is one of the eight pilot countries.

The training will include journalists from Zanzibar - Unguja and Pemba - as well as from up country and from community radios. In total, the training will have 32 participants.

The UN believes that investigative and analytical journalism can play a significant role in furthering democratic changes and improving lives of the people by empowering them with factual information and correcting some ills prevalent in the society.

By supporting this training, the UN believes that it is contributing in capacity building of one of the important pillars of state, the media, which has a very critical role of informing and educating the public.

The competence of media practitioners is therefore very important in any democratic state which believes in freedom of the press to enable journalists to put to good use their professional skills and better serve their country.

The UN system in Tanzania, through the UN Communication Group is committed to strengthening its partnership with the media in the country, as part of the implementation of the UN's communication strategy.