YOUNG REPORTERS

UNICEF empowers young

Congolese to speak up for
childrens rights, through the
Young Reporters programme.
Children under 18 constitute the largest demographic in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Young Reporters pro-
gramme is part of a broader initiative by UNICEF and the Min-
istry of Gender, Families and Children to empower children to
advocate for childrens rights.
Design: How it works
UNICEF works in partnership with the Ministry of Gender,
Family and Children to implement the programme in the
eleven provinces of the DRC.
The children, aged 12-17, receive training on how to engage
in advocacy and are given an orientation to childrens rights.
The young reporters are given training in basic journalism
principles and techniques including photography, video
production, radio production, and writing human interest
stories. The training is conducted by local journalists and
UNICEF staff.
The young reporters interview other children to create
videos or write articles, which are used as advocacy tools
and diffused via dedicated or mainstream media channels.
unite for children
UNICEF/DRC/Ridsdel
Deliver: What has been achieved
Reach: Since 2007, nearly 500 children have participated in the programme and
received training in journalism, media, and advocating for childrens rights.
Empowering the next generation: The children who participated in the
programme say that it has raised their awareness of social and human rights
issues. Many of them say they want to go on to become journalists, rights
campaigners, or humanitarians.
Building skills and confidence: The training that the children received
as part of the young reporters programme built their skills and confdence as
communicators, witnesses, and advocators.
Young reporters in Goma learned about the social
challenges of children living with disabilities in
camps for people displaced by confict.
Discover: What is working
Children talking to children: It
takes a child to get another childs
perspective. When the young reporters
in Goma went into the camps for
displaced people, they interviewed
children living with disabilities. The
reporters discovered that the childrens
greatest concern was being teased
and bullied when they tried to use the
latrines. When adapted latrines were
built for them, it was a relief on more
than a physical level.
Empowering children to advocate
for childrens rights: The young
reporters use their unique access to
children to create powerful stories and
videos themed around childrens rights.
UNICEF helps to create opportunities
for the children to dialogue with their
community and with administrative
and political leaders, and they use their
stories to advocate for rights-based
policies and decisions.
Youth exchanges: UNICEF facilitated
the young reporters participation in
global youth events. Opportunities to
UNICEF/DRC/Wingi

We did a story on malnourished

children. When I frst arrived there
and saw those children, I was really
affected. It motivated me to write the
best story I could so that I could show
people, show the government, the
suffering of those children, so that
Regular mentoring and accompaniment: The young
reporters achieved the best results when they were given
mentoring and feedback throughout the process, well
beyond their initial training. In Kinshasa dedicated members
of the child-friendly journalist network accompanied the
young reporters from start to fnish, whereas in Goma
local trainers who are themselves graduates of the young
reporters programme covered that part.
Integration with other initiatives: Many of the young
reporters are also members of their local Youth Parliament,
a government-led initiative which puts children in contact
with provincial decision-makers. The young reporters used
the stories and videos they produced to support advocacy
for childrens rights through this forum.

Richard, 15
dialogue with youth in other countries create a strong sense
of global community around childrens rights. Facebook and
Google+ hangouts have proven to be major assets.
Close working relationships with government
departments: In the places where the programme works
best, UNICEF and the Ministry of Gender work closely
together and have an established relationship based on
transparency, good fnancial management, and working
towards common goals.
Linkages with media: The Young Reporters are trained
by professional journalists who have taken part in UNICEFs
Child-friendly Journalists programme. UNICEF and the
journalists then facilitate media placement for the childrens
stories on local, national and international media channels.
Karine, 16

I think what were doing is really

important. We make videos about
childrens rights and then we use
these videos as a form of advocacy.
In Goma, there are many children
who are living in camps for displaced
people. These children are really
they would do something to help them.
Participating in the programme has given me a sense of
responsibility towards others. I think that with what Ive learned, I
can become a compassionate leader; a consciencious person. In the
future Id like to be an internationally renowned journalist.
going through a diffcult time, but I feel hopeful, because the videos
that we make can show policy-makers what the reality is like in the
camps.Because of what Ive seen as a Young Reporter, Id like to
work in humanitarian response or advocacy.
1 http://www.lemonde.fr/international/
visuel/2010/05/12/temoins-du-dedans-
la-crise-au-congo-racontee-par-les-
congolais_1347272_3210.html
Good working relationship with schools: The young
reporters programme is time-intensive. The burden on the
children is reduced when partner schools and teachers are
supportive of childrens participation, and when programme
timeframes take into account school schedules.
Peak moments
After an advocacy initiative led by the Young Reporters
of Kinshasa, the national television broadcaster created
dedicated television and radio spots for broadcasting the
childrens products, called The Voice of Youth.
In 2009, the Young reporters of Matadi discovered that at
specialized schools for deaf and mute children, the parents
themselves were paying the teachers salaries. Based on
the right of children to receive an education, the Young
Reporters successfully advocated with the Governor for the
inclusion of these teachers in the 2010 budget.
In 2008, the Young Reporters of Goma produced a series of
videos called Witnesses from Within, about the lives of
displaced people in North Kivu. The videos were picked up
internationally by the leading French newspaper, Le Monde,
and created international debate and discussion.
1

When the Francophonie summit took place in Kinshasa in
October 2012, the Young Reporters had the chance to talk
to several members of the DRC parliament and to alert
UNICEF helps the Young Reporters use
communications technology to connect with other
young people around the globe. Here, the Young
Reporters of Kinshasa work over an internet
videoconference with the Young Ambassadors in
France to draft a Charter on childrens rights for
the Francophonie summit of 2012.
them on the non-respect of many
childrens rights in her country. They
also organized advocacy games to
inform other children on their rights.
UNICEF/DRC/Wingi
Dream: Vision for the future
UNICEFs vision is that children are empowered to speak up
for their own rights and those of their peers, and that they are
given the opportunities to live up to their full potential. UNICEF
believes that children are agents of change. Their voices can
create an environment in which all children have equal access
to basic services, are protected from all forms of exploitation
and abuse, and have the opportunity to fulfl their childhood,
and not be victims of recruitment into armed forces or groups.
To contribute to this vision, UNICEF would like to continue
its work with the Young Reporters, and create even greater
opportunities for them to connect, share experiences, and bring
their perspectives to the provincial, national and international
stage.
Partners:
Partnerships are crucial for UNICEFs work. UNICEF thanks its
partners, Rseau des Journalistes Amis de lEnfant and Ob-
servatoire des droits humains and the Ministry of Gender for
the successful collaboration.
Watch the Young Reporters videos:
YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/ERESTDRC
Children are heroes, too
Eunice Muba is a UNICEF Young Reporter from
the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
In November 2012, Eunice was invited to
represent the children of central Africa at
the pan-African Forum on Children, in Addis
Abbaba. She wrote and delivered a speech in
front of the entire delegation, entitled We,
African Children. In her speech she recalled
the rights of children to survival, freedom of
expression, education, and health, and she
called for a strategy to prevent armed conficts
from affecting children.
Read more at: http://www.kidsareheroes.org/
heroes/Eunice-Muba.php
UNICEF/DRC/Wingi