Workshop on Misahel project launched in Bamako

Bamako, Mali (PANA) - The president of the High Authority for Communication (HAC), Fodié Touré, Wednesday opened a workshop on the "Misahel" project to promote the socio-political inclusion of young women and men facing crisis in the Sahel, PANA reported here.

The four-year project, which covers Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, is jointly financed by the French Development Agency (AFD) and Canal France International (CFI) for an amount of 8.3 million euros or about 5.4 billion F CFA.

The project will enable this vulnerable segment of society to have access to reliable, gender-sensitive information focused on the concerns of this youth so that they can appropriate the media space to participate more equitably and calmly in public debates.

To implement the project in Mali, the CFI signed partnership agreements with the HAC, the Maison de la Presse, the Union des radios et télévisions libres (URTEL), the Tamani studio of the Fondation Hirondelle and certain ministerial departments.

In Mali, 24 radio stations are beneficiaries of this project, selected following a request for applications.

Opening the workshop, the president of the HAC of Mali, who is also president of the Platform of Communication and Audiovisual Regulators of WAEMU member countries and Guinea, said he was reassured that "thanks to Misahel, these radio stations will be better equipped to enable Malian youth to assert themselves through the media and to feel responsible citizens".

According to him, the Misahel project, which aims to strengthen youth participation, alongside elected officials and civil society organizations, through spaces for exchange, is entering its active phase with this first workshop with directors of the radio stations for capacity building.

Participants will exchange ideas on "the role of the media in a context of crisis", "gender-sensitive journalism" and "the place of gender issues in the Misahel project" and the role of the media in promoting youth participation".

- 0-     PANA   GT/BEH/MTA/RA 23Sept2020