DW Akademie opens office in Uganda

On October 11, DW Akademie opened its new office in Kampala. With its presence in the Ugandan capital, DW Akademie, in cooperation with local partners, is strengthening its commitment to international free media and freedom of expression.

DW Akademie supports independent media coverage in Uganda, interactive youth media and educates young target groups in media and information literacy. Ute Schaeffer, Deputy Director of DW Akademie: “ Being a strategic partner of the Federal Ministry for Development and Economic Cooperation (BMZ), we want to make a contribution, to support independent reporting in Uganda and lend a voice to civil society. Three out of four Ugandans are under the age of 30. We want to enable this generation to use media both actively and responsibly, to put their issues on the agenda, thus contributing to the development of their country.”

The interests and concerns of today’s youth rarely receive attention from traditional media outlets. In order to sensitize the next generation of journalists to their needs, workshops will be held to address how to provide media for younger audiences. In cooperation with local journalism training institutions, DW Akademie will lead these workshops.

Together with their partners, Uganda Radio Network (URN) and the Centre for Media Literacy and Community Development (CEMCOD), DW Akademie established a country-wide network consisting of more than 250 citizen reporters. They deliver information from their local communities to local radio broadcasters, thereby augmenting the quantity and quality of news generated by communities and groups often neglected by media houses. In conjunction with local decision-makers, the reports from these citizen journalists are regularly discussed within local communities, empowering them to find solutions to their own problems..

Furthermore, DW Akademie in Kampala cooperates with the Hub for Investigative Media (HIM) locally. HIM offers training and consulting services for journalists, bloggers and human rights activists, and has a digital platform to provide information on the subject of investigative journalism and security for journalists.

Due to  security concerns in  South Sudan, DW Akademie has re-located numerous projects to neighboring Uganda. Among other projects, exiled South Sudanese journalists in refugee camps are trained as mobile reporters and work with local radio station to promote understanding between refugees and the local population. In June 2017, the “Cross Border Network,” a group of 24 South Sudanese and North-West radio stations, was founded, focusing on refugee issues, reports from the refugee settlements as well as with the goal of the exchange of information and content.

Since 2014, Uganda is one of the focus countries of DW Akademie, receiving BMZ funding. In 2016, the Ugandan Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development confirmed DW Academie's status under the Agreement on Technical Cooperation between the German and Ugandan Governments of 1964, thereby creating the formal requirements for the official opening of the office.