Strengthening Free and Independent Media
in South Sudan (i-STREAM) Award No: AID-668-A-13-00005 FY17 Annual Report October 2016 -Septmber 2017 Submitted: October 31, 2017
Prepared for: United States Agency for International Development - South Sudan C/O American Embassy, Juba, South Sudan AOR: Richard Ojara
Prepared by: Charles Haskins, Chief of Party Internews in South Sudan Plot 49, Block A-XII, 2nd Class, Hai Cinema Juba, South Sudan South Sudan +211 (0) 920 010 961/Kenya +254 790 644 028/[email protected]
The authors’ views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government. Photo: Boda Boda Talk Talk team.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary ...... 1 Key Achievements ...... 4 Media Landscape ...... 7 Security Situation ...... 11 Objectives, Components, FY17 Activities ...... 14 Objective 1 ...... 15 Component 1: Eye Media ...... 16 Component 2: The Radio Community ...... 28 Component 3: Journalism and Media Training ...... 42 Component 4: Academic and Vocational Institutions ...... 47 Component 5: Ratings Systems, Audience Surveys, and Market Assessments ...... 51 Objective 2 ...... 52 Component 6: Industry Cooperation and Coordination ...... 53 Component 7: Legal-Regulatory Environment and Safety and Security of Journalists ...... 56 Component 8: Media Initiatives and Community Participation ...... 58 Component 9: Small Grants for Local Partners ...... 60 Objective 3 ...... 63 Component 10: Humanitarian Assistance ...... 64 Component 11: Priority Thematic Areas ...... 79 Indicator Progress ...... 83 Project History ...... 88 Acronyms and Abbreviations ...... 90 Attachments ...... 92
Note: All photos in this report are credited to Internews unless otherwise noted.
INTERNEWS FY2017 Annual Report CA# AID-668-A-13-00005 Oct 2016-Sept 2017 Use or disclosure of data on this page is subject to the restriction on the cover sheet of this report.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY i-STREAM is a USAID-funded project to strengthen the independent media sector in South Sudan. The goal of the five-year, $75 million program is to: strengthen a free and independent media in South Sudan, with an emphasis on the independent radio sector by supporting the transition to self-sustainability of five currently funded USAID-supported local partner radio stations and focusing on improving the professional preparation of journalists, the economic self-sustainability of media houses, the enabling environment for a free media, and the support institutions for a freer media. To accomplish this, i-STREAM seeks to strengthen professional media capacities, industry association building, and solidarity across South Sudan’s developing media sector. The i-STREAM program views media development as a holistic process that encompasses a number of key interlinking factors that together enable a healthy media system: the production and distribution of quality content, the financial sustainability of media outlets, a fair and predictable legal environment that encourages their development, and the existence of strong support institutions that can advocate on their behalf. High quality, localized information is a key component to democracy, governance and progress. i- STREAM’s approach is holistic – collaborating with media houses to produce and distribute high quality content, providing advice and support to those media houses as they strive to become their own self- sustaining institutions and advocating for the entire media sector ensuring that journalists and media houses are protected and able to operate freely and credibly. It is this integrated approach that is working towards a more healthy media environment in South Sudan, which is undoubtedly a crucial part of the country’s democratic progress. FY2017 began under difficult conditions but was marked with many achievements. The first quarter saw Eye Media encounter and successfully navigate its greatest challenge to date – a week-long shutdown by the government. Our Humanitarian Information Service published a groundbreaking Beneficiary Feedback Report after conducting more than 79 focus group discussions in four UN Protection of Civilian sites across South Sudan. And 19 graduates received the first-ever granted Advanced Certificates in Journalism by the Media Development Institute (MDI). Internews continued to vigorously support its programs with a strong group of national staff in country, working from all field sites as well as in Juba at a shared office with partner MSI. Following the July 2016 incident, expat staff and some South Sudanese staff had been working remotely from both Kampala and Nairobi, with targeted short-term trips in and out of Juba for programmatic continuity. Supporting efforts to re-deploy the HQ team to Juba, extensive security and risk assessments of potential accommodations and office spaces were conducted. Once a locale was selected, the task of upgrading the security began to satisfy critical re-entry requirements agreed on by the organization. Throughout the second quarter, i-STREAM continued to record achievements despite the continuing conflict in the country and the severe economic deterioration. Eye Media and The Radio Community (TRC) senior leadership teams successfully completed an 18-month executive coaching program, ready to take their organizations to the next level. The Humanitarian Information Service launched a new community radio station called Jamjang FM in Ajoung Thok refugee camp providing critical, life-saving information for 100,000 Sudanese refugees. Internews also published the first of five learning modules toward the Humanitarian Information Service Learning Collection. The Boda Boda Talk Talk learning module documents the case study in South Sudan and provides a how-to guide for replication in different contexts. Internews supported stations and projects also encountered challenges in the area of press freedom restrictions, most notably with the postponement of the launch of a new radio station, Kondial FM, in Bentiu PoC due to arbitrary government restrictions.
INTERNEWS FY2017 Annual Report CA# AID-668-A-13-00005 October 2016-September 2017 Use or disclosure of data on this page is subject to the restriction on the cover sheet of this report. 1
Internews resumed full operations in country in the second quarter, with our new office and accommodations fully operational and with all required security upgrades completed. Our senior leadership team returned to work full time in Juba, as well as several international staff posted to both field sites and within Juba. Internews limited international staff presence to a maximum of 12, and a few non-essential international staff positions continue to support the project from their homes of record. Additionally, all national staff returned to country in Q2, and our remote operations in Kampala closed. In the third quarter, the final stages of Eye Media’s organizational restructuring process occurred. After months of planning and careful consideration of various scenarios factoring in Eye Radio’s vision, the organizational restructuring exercise was undertaken to ensure Eye Media’s long-term sustainability. A major accomplishment for TRC was the launch of the network’s newest station Akol Yam FM in Aweil. The smooth process followed the successful navigation of some local political hurdles that were placed its path since the decision to move support for the former station in Malualkon to a new station in Aweil. Similarly, in Bentiu PoC, months of negotiations resulted in the successful launch of Kondial FM, the newest humanitarian radio station, in northern Unity state. In June 2017, Internews transferred leadership of the organization in South Sudan from Deborah Ensor to Charles Haskins, who now serves as the Chief of Party for the i-STREAM project. The transition has been seamless and Charles’ familiarity with the media sector in South Sudan, as well as his decades of expertise have permitted a smooth handover process. The fiscal year came to a close as many i-STREAM partners marked major milestones. TRC prepared to receive its first sub-grant in early FY2018. TRC also supported the distribution of 4,294 solar-powered, wind-up radio sets in Aweil following the launch of the newest TRC station, Jamjang FM. MDI continued with their successful vocational journalism certificate program by enrolling 25 members for the second class of graduates. The second annual Juba Film Festival occurred in September, where nearly 15,000 attendees enjoyed 30 films in Juba.
JamJang FM Celebrates their Station Launch The volatile environment in South Sudan continued to be unpredictable as media outlets and journalists faced adversity and in many circumstances, threats to their work, and their lives. TRC continues to follow the military court tribunal on the Terrain Hotel attack. In response to violence in PoC’s, HIS stations and BBTT programs have intensified their coverage of peace programs. Finally, AMDISS issued a press release expressing concern over government censorship and led the effort to inform the Minister of Justice about intentions to sue the Media Authority over what they consider to be false and illegal requirements to register with the authority. South Sudan remains incredibly fragile and insecure. The economic situation continues to deteriorate and has implications not only for the vulnerable and displaced population, but also for any hope of peaceful
INTERNEWS FY2017 Annual Report CA# AID-668-A-13-00005 October 2016-September 2017 Use or disclosure of data on this page is subject to the restriction on the cover sheet of this report. 2 reconciliation between the government and an ever-shifting confusion of opposition coalitions. The number of South Sudanese refugees has now surpassed two million and UNOCHA reports that six million people are in urgent need of food and livelihood assistance1. Internews remains steadfastly committed to the people and communities of South Sudan who are working towards a peaceful solution to the current political crisis. Internews-supported media outlets continue to be a critical resource for the people of South Sudan during this challenging time and Internews is determined to support their efforts through the duration of the i-STREAM project and beyond. i-STREAM is a five-year project which runs from October 1, 2013 to September 30, 2018. This annual report covers the four quarters of FY2017 (Year 4) from Oct 1, 2016 to Sept 30, 2017.
1 http://www.unocha.org/south-sudan INTERNEWS FY2017 Annual Report CA# AID-668-A-13-00005 October 2016-September 2017 Use or disclosure of data on this page is subject to the restriction on the cover sheet of this report. 3
KEY ACHIEVEMENTS
Despite the harsh and constantly changing operating environment in South Sudan, Internews and its local partners have been able to achieve many milestones in FY2017, concluding the fourth year of this five- year i-STREAM project. The following are momentous highlights from the year: As a key objective of the i-STREAM project, Internews provided capacity building in the form of daily mentoring of Internews journalists, as well as formal training opportunities for both Internews-supported partners and other local media partners. Notably: Internews provided mentorship to a total of 99 journalists in in FY2017, including 27 women, which means 27% of Internews trainee journalists were women. Internews embedded trainers and advisors also provided a combined 1,925 days of remote and on-site mentoring. i-STREAM provided formal training (distinct from mentoring) to a total of 139 individual journalists and media outlet staff this year, including 40 women. Thus, 29% of i-STREAM trainee journalists were women. Eye Media CEO, Eye Radio station manager, and The Radio Community Network (TRC) managing editor completed the final capstone course for the 18-month executive leadership development program in Nairobi. A central focus of the program was to present models for ethical and moral leadership in mission-driven organizations and how to hold true to those values in a challenging civil society context and post-conflict environment. In the face of the challenging media environment, Eye Radio continued to successfully operate, delivering quality news and programming via its 24-hour FM station in Juba, transmitted across its repeater network to major population centers, on Shortwave across the country and online. Eye Media management and staff have shown considerable resilience through this tough year: Eye Radio was shut down by National Security officials for one week in November 2016. The amicable resolution of the issues surrounding the shutdown of Eye Radio station was an organizational development success story and important milestone for Eye Media management. Economic challenges impacted Eye Media revenue throughout the fiscal year as commercial and NGO fundraising opportunities were few and far between. In response, a fundraising task force has been formed to prioritize the fundraising leads and proactively pitch campaign ideas. Eye Radio produced a total of 5,266 news stories in FY2017. Content varied widely, but included the majority of stories fell into these categories: governance (36%), security (22%) and humanitarian issues (11%). Of the news stories, 3,598 (68%) focused on national or local issues compared to 1,668 (32%) on international issues. Eye Radio produced and broadcast 1,987 live and pre-packaged programs including concentration in three areas: governance (22%), peace (16%), and security (14%). Eye Radio celebrated 18 months of Shortwave Service (ERSS) in September 2017. Eye Radio received an anti-corruption and transparency champion award from the local NGO Community Empowerment Progress Organization (CEPO). After months of planning and careful consideration of various scenarios factoring in Eye Radio’s vision, the final stages of Eye Media’s organizational restructuring process occurred this quarter to ensure Eye Media’s long-term sustainability. The exercise resulted in a 25% reduction in labor costs and more than $250,000 reduction in EM’s annual operating budget. Eye Media broadened its engagement and actively contributed to or participated in workshops with UNESCO, JMEC and USAID, among others. Eye Radio was the lead broadcaster for World Radio Day. Eye Radio’s station manager was elected as Secretary at AMDISS’ annual general meeting.
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The Radio Community (TRC) also continued to engage rural communities across South Sudan by producing and broadcasting content in local languages. Behind the scenes work has been ongoing to strengthen TRC’s organizational capacity and move them towards a self-sustaining entity: The Radio Community (TRC) produced a total of 4,498 news stories. The top categories of stories during FY2017 include health (23%), security (16%), and business & economy (14%). TRC stations produced and broadcast 3,240 pre-recorded programs and live radio across the network. The most featured topics were: health (22%) business & economy 13% and education (9%). Internews electrician Issa Kassimu and TRC radio engineer, Steven Lemmy traveled to the UK for the second year to attend Radio TechCon, a global radio engineering conference. Issa presented on and released a groundbreaking report on the installation of a solar-power system that completely powers the Mayardit FM community radio station in Turalei. Internews completed the Step-by-Step Guide to Community Radio Associations, which is an instruction manual for radio station teams on how to establish a radio association to increase audience engagement and accountability to the communities they serve. Three TRC stations (Mayardit, Mingkaman, and Singaita) reconstituted their radio associations and completed trainings with new members. Akol Yam will constitute their association in FY2018. A successful partnership with AECOM VISTAS resulted in a state of the art and well-designed new station building and community facility in Aweil. TRC’s editorial guidelines were published, after a master class for TRC editors was conducted. The guidelines ensure TRC stations’ broadcasts are accurate, fair and independent. The South Sudanese station engineer participated in extensive coaching with a specialist engineer trainer and developed a detailed radio engineering manual and training course for TRC stations. A technical fit out was led by the station engineer; following on from 12 months technical management training and mentoring by the Internews engineering trainer. i-STREAM continued to support Communicating with Communities (CwC) advocacy across the humanitarian sector, as well as Humanitarian Information Services (HIS) at UN Protection of Civilian (PoC) sites and towns/settlements for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and Sudanese refugees. These projects potentially reach a population of approximately 512,1792 across South Sudan including: Ajuong Thok, Pamir and Yida refugee camps, Malakal PoC, Bentiu PoC, and UN House PoCs in Juba. HIS published a series of bulletins, reports, and research on a variety of topics including activities and community feedback on a weekly and monthly basis, research on access to media and information needs among Sudanese refugees in Unity state, and two new modules for the HIS learning collection on how to organize radio distribution and listening groups. HIS stations produced a total of 2,454 news stories. The top three categories of stories during this period include health (22%), humanitarian (22%), and education (11%). HIS stations produced and broadcast produced and broadcast 1,040 pre-recorded programs and live radio. The breakdown of programs by most heavily featured topics across the network include: health (22%), humanitarian issues (22%), education (11%) and security & governance (11%). Journalism teams in Bentiu and Jamjang received extensive basic journalism training. Jamjang 89.4 FM launched to service a population of 100,000 refugees previously experiencing an information blackout. Boda Boda Talk Talk continues to be an impactful project with both the community and humanitarians in Bentiu PoC and UN House PoCs, who utilize the service as a link between them to better improve the humanitarian response in the POCs. Internews produced a total of 265 program episodes through the Boda Boda Talk Talk (BBTT) service and BBTT-style programming called Kalaam fil Bayt (Talks at Home). The top categories of BBTT humanitarian programs during this period include health (28%), humanitarian (22%), and security (8%).
2Yida/Ajoung Thok figures are from UNHCR (http://data.unhcr.org/SouthSudan/region.php?id=26&country=251). All other population data is September 2017 figures from IOM. Bor PoC project closed in March 2017. INTERNEWS FY2017 Annual Report CA# AID-668-A-13-00005 October 2016-September 2017 Use or disclosure of data on this page is subject to the restriction on the cover sheet of this report. 5
Internews published the “Beneficiaries Feedback Report for the 2017 Humanitarian Needs Overview and Humanitarian Response Plan.” All the Humanitarian Information Service (HIS) projects worked in partnership with UNOCHA for the data collection and drafting of the Humanitarian Needs Overview/Humanitarian Response Plan (HNO/HRP). The report was disseminated to the humanitarian community in South Sudan. BBTT supported distribution of 1,052 solar-powered radios in UN House and Ajoung Thok. Publication of the first HIS learning module on BBTT with a case study and how to guide for those wishing to replicate our success in different locations. Internews secured UN South Sudan Humanitarian Fund (SSHF) funding for the UN House BBTT project allowing continued operations until December 2017. i-STREAM’s sub-grants component continued implementation, with four small sub-grantees mainly representing more established institutions with vital capacity building and business support. Despite a challenging operating environment, i-STREAM sub-grantees made strong contributions over the year: The Association of Media Development in South Sudan (AMDISS) convened a new, separate governing body known as the Media Development Institute (MDI) board of trustees. The Union of Journalists in South Sudan (UJOSS) developed, produced and distributed 14 radio jingles to raise awareness of the functions of the Media Authority and held a series of 10 talk shows on Classic FM, City FM, Radio One, Bakhita Radio, Jonglei FM and Spirit FM discussing the importance of freedom of expression. Voice of Freedom (VOF) FM contracted a business consultant to develop its five-year strategic business plan and code of conduct to increase the level of efficiency in VOF’s operations and to enable self-sustainability. The Media Development Institute (MDI) graduated 19 from its first class including four women, all who received an Advanced Certificate in Journalism. MDI is implemented by AMDISS. The Union of Journalists in South Sudan (UJOSS) continued to monitor media rights violations in collaboration with Internews. UJOSS also organized and conducted a three-day safety, security and first aid training for journalists supported by i-STREAM. The training drew 19 participants (including five women) from print and mass media, freelance journalists in Juba, and student press club members from the Juba University. Juba Film Limited (JFL) held a Youth Video Mobile workshop in Juba selecting 22 students, including 14 women and three youth from each of the secondary schools in Juba. JFL held a public screening at Nyakuron Culture Center, showing all of the winning 2016 films. More than 1,000 people attended the five-hour screening; many were attending a film screening for the first time. The Internews sub-grants team supported Abyei Information and Radio Service (AIRS) to become a local NGO by supporting the development of the body’s constitution, policy development and ensuring all required documentation to facilitate smooth registration by the government. AIRS is now fully operational as an indigenous media organization. VOF program presenter, Ochol Bosco Owot, interviews a patient in Magwi
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MEDIA LANDSCAPE
Throughout FY2017, South Sudanese media outlets experienced difficult circumstances perpetuated by government authorities, however, journalists who were able to carry forward with their work amid the challenging environment provided valuable information to the country’s citizens. In the first third of the fiscal year, 62 media rights violations against journalists, opinion writers, and media houses, consisting of 41 separate documented cases were reported. Across the country, media workers and media houses faced intimidation and harassment notably, four journalists detained by the SPLA for attempting to cover a story about health clinics; the office of an international broadcaster was closed; and a journalist detained for escorting UNMISS to a conflict zone. Though media outlets have seen decreased outright violations by government authorities as FY2017 unfolded, the general sentiment among media houses and journalists is one of increased vigilance and widespread adoption of self- censorship to avoid added scrutiny by government officials. More information can be found under Component 7: Legal-Regulatory Environment and Safety and Security of Journalists of this report.
FY2017 Media Rights Violations by type
Threat 4 2 7 1 3 1 Detention and Arrest 1 4 1 4 1 1 3 1 Obstruction 1 1 4 3 1 Censorship 1 2 2 Closure 1 1 Kidnapped 1 1 PNGed/Deported 1 1 Interference 1 1 Summons 1 1 Physical Injury: Beaten/Tortured/Attacked 1 Looting/Destruction 1 Licensing/Regulation 1
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
October November December January February March April May June
The fiscal year began under challenging circumstances for media in South Sudan. IGAD, the Association of Media Development in South Sudan (AMDISS), the National Editors Forum (NEF) and the Union of Journalists in South Sudan (UJOSS) all publically condemned the killing and harassment of journalists. The Director General of UNESCO called on the authorities of South Sudan to investigate the killing of freelance journalist Isaac Vuni. Vuni, a veteran freelance journalist, was found dead on a farm in Kerepi after he went missing in June 2016. Reports about opposition forces continued to prove controversial, when the Government of South Sudan under President Kiir banned media organizations and journalists from interviewing and disseminating any material associated with the former First Vice President and leader of the armed opposition in the country (SPLA-iO) Riek Machar.
INTERNEWS FY2017 Annual Report CA# AID-668-A-13-00005 October 2016-September 2017 Use or disclosure of data on this page is subject to the restriction on the cover sheet of this report. 7
Censorship by the security forces continued. Eye Radio was temporarily closed from 11th November 2016 for a period of eight days. In October 2016, Eye Radio had aired a previously broadcast (on another network) voice clip of the former VP Riek Machar. This radio clip offended the National Security Service and the NSS sent agents to the Eye Radio station demanding its closure. Due to pressure from the NSS, the CEO took the station off air not wanting to risk any staff members. After a week of NSS administrative visits to clarify the situation, the station was allowed to go back on air. Censorship of newspapers continued this year, with a total of nine articles removed by NSS prior to print runs of Juba-based newspapers. Since the outbreak of violence in December 2013, South Sudanese have called attention to the dangers of hate speech as a means of inflaming further violent conflict. South Sudanese online communities are increasingly sharing graphic and often horrific photographs of purported atrocities. Some of these images are authentic and depict actual victims of violence in South Sudan while others are taken out of context to deliberately fan ethnic hatred. Some Facebook users have also implicitly called for acts of revenge and violence when sharing photographs. Concerns about the potential for genocide spread across South Sudan, where attacks on civilians from Dinka, Nuer, Shilluk and Bari ethnic groups were on the rise. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned that a rise in hate speech and ethnic incitement is likely to spark "mass atrocities" in the country. In addition, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, warned that ethnic rhetoric and hate speech have become highly dangerous in South Sudan and could result in more violence. The economic decline in South Sudan caused telecommunication companies to increase tariffs to 3.9 SSP/minute this year, causing widespread implications for freelancers and journalists who rely on their phones to do their work. On 22nd November the South Sudan Media Sector Working Group (SSMSWG) met for the first time since the unrest in July 2016 to discuss the current state of media freedom in South Sudan. On January 16th, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan released their first Human Rights report in 2017. During the 34th session of the Human Rights Council (HRC) in Q2, the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan released a report to the HRC pursuant to its resolution 31/20. The HRC established the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan for a period of one year, requesting the Commission to take steps to establish a factual basis for transitional justice and reconciliation. Radio journalists who fled South Sudan to neighboring countries told the Commission that they had been threatened with arrest by NSS officers, who accused them of conspiring against the State and propagating “Western agendas”. The Association for Media Development in South Sudan (AMDISS) sent a letter to the President on 31st March calling for the reopening of closed media houses and the release of journalists in detention. The Nation Mirror, the Citizen, Al Rai, Al Tabeer, as well as the production house Free Voice are among the media houses closed by the National Security Service (NSS). Despite the challenging period for media and journalists, the media sector accounted for a series of positive developments. Of note, state-owned Radio Wau Director Alor Deng Kur confirmed that they were back on air after the transmission system broke down in October 2016. The station was off-air for four months. George Livio Bahara, a Radio Miraya journalist, who had been detained since August 2014, was finally released on 25th May 2017 without charge. AMDISS announced his release in a 30th May press release. Albany Associates developed and published a manual on media laws, freedom of expression and international standards of best practice as a follow up to a three-day workshop on the same topic held in June 2016. UJOSS continued to raise awareness of freedom of expression and the media laws through radio talk shows, public service announcements and workshops for journalists. The Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) also conducted workshops for Juba based journalists in an attempt to upscale their expertise in development and peace agenda.
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A South Sudan appeal court ruled that phone wiretapping was “unconstitutional,” delivering a victory to media rights advocates. The device used for phone wiretapping, which has been a subject of investigations by the United Nations panel of experts, was acquired by South Sudan from Israel. The Radio for Peace Network, which was formed by 12 Juba-based radio stations in February 2016, launched a radio show debate on “Peace is our Option” on 5th May in Juba. The show provides opportunities for citizens to contribute effectively to finding solutions to conflict in South Sudan. Media sector institutions such as UJOSS and AMDISS continued to raise awareness of key issues affecting the media. In particular, UJOSS continued to raise public awareness about freedom of expression and the media laws through radio talk shows and public service announcements on six different radio stations across South Sudan. AMDISS also convened a group of broadcasters in Juba to successfully lobby the National Communications Authority to renegotiate the high station broadcast fees, according to a sliding scale based on individual station revenues. Despite this progress, a government decision to ban 20 foreign journalists from working or continuing to work in South Sudan was announced by the Media Authority’s managing director, Elijah Alier, during an interview with Eye Radio on 7th June. The controversy deepened further when, on 20th June, the Media Authority issued a warning to all media houses regarding the use of hate speech, in which they should “avoid any use of derogatory words against specific groups of people or individuals on the basis of their ethnicity, tribe or community that may incite the public, cause resentment, discrimination and violence.” In response, the co-chair of the National Dialogue (ND) steering committee urged the government to ensure unhindered freedom of the press during the National Dialogue talks. Angelo Beda appealed to President Salva Kiir to allow national and international media houses to operate freely once the process begins. The Association of Media Development in South Sudan issued a press release on 20th July 2017 expressing their concern about the blockage of some websites, for example the Sudan Tribune, and Radio Tamazuj among them. Blocking of websites adds to two recent incidents of attack and harassment of journalists in which a journalist working for South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC) was brutally beaten while covering a football match between the South Sudanese national team and the Ugandan team on the 14th July 2017. In another similar incident, the director of the same Broadcasting Corporation was arrested by the National Security Service on the 11th July 2017 and released on the 19th July, 2017 after more than a week in detention. This year, Media Authority, a supposedly independent body, but one which is alleged to maintain links with NSS was responsible for adjudicating cases against journalists and for licensing electronic media, shared its vision for the implementation of their mandate. The MA planned to establish four specialized committees, recruit staff, build their capacity, and establish fee structures for frequency allocation. Demonstrating a commitment to the mandate, the managing director reported that the Media Authority rented office space furnished with support of Norwegian’s People Aid, and held a consultative dialogue with media stakeholders. However the MA’s goals have not been accomplished at the time of writing. South Sudanese veteran journalist Alfred Taban has called for the dissolution of the Media Authority following their involvement in issuing visas for foreign journalists. The Media Authority had asked UJOSS to register with them, a practice previously managed by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. A lawyer on behalf of five media organizations, including AMDISS, UJOSS, AMWISS, the Community Media Network, and the National Editors Forum (NEF) delivered a statutory notice of intention to sue the Media Authority. The MA argues that according to the Media Authority Act, persons who carry out unlicensed broadcast activities shall immediately register with MA or be sanctioned.
The group of five media organizations consider this request to be outside of the mandate of the MA and are requesting the court to issue an injunction while this issue is resolved. In response to the intention to sue the MA for acting outside of its mandate, the Ministry informed the parities that they are not permitted to sue. Furthermore, the Ministry stated that the Media Appeals Board had been established
INTERNEWS FY2017 Annual Report CA# AID-668-A-13-00005 October 2016-September 2017 Use or disclosure of data on this page is subject to the restriction on the cover sheet of this report. 9 according to Section 58 of the Media Authority Act and decisions by this Board shall be final subject to review only by the Supreme Court of South Sudan.
The Media Authority continues to force individuals and organizations to register. By the end of FY2017, the MA requested individual journalists to register and to renew their registration every six months. The cost for registration is 10,000SSP. Some journalists reported pressure from the MA to register with them or risk arrest. The Association for Media Development in South Sudan (AMDISS), met with the Committee of Information, Telecommunication and Culture of the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) to address the challenges and concerns of the media industry, as well as the achievements. Media houses continue to struggle to survive amid deteriorating economic conditions, which present challenges in terms of increased operational costs and high taxes levied by different government institutions. The country is facing increasing threats against freedom of expression and the space for an objective independent press is diminishing. This is illustrated by the removal of articles at the printing press, the blocking of websites, and the harassment, assault and detention of journalists.
More information about media sector activities are provided throughout this report.
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SECURITY SITUATION
FY2017 saw a gradual yet steady decline of all operational security aspects in South Sudan. In the aftermath of the events of July 2016, all indicators point to growing economic instability, political uncertainty, and government threats against media & civil society actors. At the time of writing, the overall national threat level remains at RED (SEVERE RISK), with Unity, Upper Nile, Lakes, Central Equatoria, Jonglei States and Juba in RED (SEVERE RISK) due to the ongoing conflict, inter-communal violence and criminality. Juba’s threat level was raised because of the increasing levels of crime as well as political instability brought about by the economic crisis and delicate state of affairs. i-STREAM took a number of measures to anticipate, respond to, and mitigate the risks of operating in South Sudan.
The first quarter of FY2017 brought an increase in insecurity, with the 2015 Comprehensive Peace Agreement all but abandoned. There was increased prevalence of xenophobia and inter-ethnic tensions, worsening economic conditions and an increasingly fragile political situation.
Since the violence broke out in July 2016, the international community has been pushing for the deployment of 4,000 UNMISS soldiers, known as the ‘Regional Protection Force’ (RPF) specifically mandated to provide additional overall security for the mission as well as for the people of South Sudan. Since the RPF was introduced, the Government of South Sudan (GOSS) was following a pattern of verbal commitments but active obstructionism. This trend persisted through FY2017, until which point RPF soldiers began a phased entry to Juba to complete their mandate in the fourth quarter.
Following the extremely challenging operational re-entry in the aftermath of July 2016, FY2017 began with a tense and challenging crisis with Internews’ primary partners. In October 2016, Eye Media aired a voice clip of the former VP Riek Machar. This radio clip offended the National Security Service (NSS) and in retaliation, they sent agents to the station and demanded its closure.
Despite an initial resolution of the issue, three weeks later the NSS returned to the station and told the Eye Media CEO that he had the option to take the station off air or have it take off by force. The CEO took the station off air as to not risk the safety of any staff. Clearly this was an NSS attempt to exert control over Eye Media’s broadcast content. Through seven difficult days of negations and a sense of uneasiness amongst the Eye Media staff, the station was allowed to go back on air. The experience was taxing for all involved and pointed to the potential for heightened incidences with NSS.
As in FY2016, former VP Riek Machar continued his call to arms and his renewed desire to initiate armed conflict with the government. At the time of writing, the general consensus is that the former VP’s relevance is waning and the international community turned their back on him as an influential player in any attempt to resolve the conflict.
The decline of former VP Riek Machar as a significant personality in the eyes of the opposition movement was juxtaposed with the rise of opposition groups and militias, many of them unnamed and non-aligned anti-government elements (AGEs). AGEs is a more appropriate term to describe the numerous non- SPLA-iO aligned opposition groups and/or militias.
The second quarter was starkly contrasted with the first. A sharp decline in incidents being reported and experienced around Juba created a sense of stability within the capital. Conversely, government ‘take and hold’ operations in other areas of the country (specifically, Central Equatoria, Jonglei, Upper Nile) increased as the government expected more resistance.
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Government security operations surged into the Kajo-Keji area (South Central Equatoria) as well as in Wau Shilluk (Fashoda – Western Bank of the Nile across from Malakal). The humanitarian snapshot at that time described the situation:
“In Upper Nile, an estimated 31,500 people were forced to flee continued advances by armed forces on the western bank of the River Nile… … The exodus from Central and Eastern Equatoria to Uganda continued, with 66,000 people arriving during the month (February). Kajo-Keji town largely emptied, with only around 400 people remaining, while some 30,000 people remained in the IDP sites in Liwolo...”
What is notable about this surge is that Kajo-Keji in Southern Central Equatoria was never an opposition stronghold and was considered peaceful and government-aligned. This action was another example of brute-force tactics used to calm any current or anticipated resistance.
In mid-February, deputy chief of staff, former Lt. General Thomas Cirillo submitted his resignation and departed the SPLA. Former Lt. General Cirillo was a renowned ethnic Equatorian SPLA general who served with distinction during the civil war. Weeks later, the former general released a manifesto announcing the formation of the National Salvation Front (NSF). Within two weeks, three separate SPLA-iO units defected from the SPLA-iO and pledged their allegiance to the newly formed NSF. By the end of the third quarter, at least eight anti-government or former SPLA-iO units had pledged allegiance to NSF. While the organization had not been actively engaged in any dynamic operations against the government, both the international community and South Sudanese are waiting to see what may come from what seems to be the most viable threat to the GOSS since the SPLA-iO was formed.
As the second quarter came to a close, there were over a dozen high-level government dismissals, promotions and re-postings within the government. Notably, the re-posting of David Yau Yau (the former Murle Cobra Faction Commander) from the position of deputy minister of defense to the position of deputy minister of labor. While there was no fall out over this high profile transition, it was obvious that the government was engaged in strategically repositioning key influential leaders to insulate itself from potential threats to their power. Government re-shuffling would persist over the course of FY2017, revealing more and more examples of volatility at the senior government level.
In the third quarter, there was a relative level of stability in the security situation throughout South Sudan, despite the continued decline in the economic situation throughout the country. There was a slight increase of incidents being reported in Juba with the return of vehicle related muggings, car-jackings and compound intrusions. Government ‘take and hold’ operations continued as in previous quarters.
On the 9th May 2017 chief of staff Paul Malong was reportedly sacked – his dismissal an apparent result of a heated argument with President Salva Kiir. Kiir allegedly expressed his displeasure at Malong’s command and control of his forces, especially in Bor and Boma state. A presidential spokesperson stated that Malong’s command was changed through a routine change of post, though it is believed that this dismissal was in-fact the president’s attempt to snub Malong. Immediately after the news of Malong’s dismissal began to leak out on the evening of his dismissal, he left Juba with a 20-vehicle armed convoy. Malong allegedly planned to travel to his ethnic homeland of Aweil East (former Northern Bahr el Ghazal). The following day, Malong and his convoy travelled to the center of Lakes State to the town of Yirol. Over the course of two days of negotiation in Yirol, Malong was later escorted back to Juba where he remains under house arrest at the time of writing. It is believed that the government deems it too dangerous to allow Malong to return to his homeland of Northern Bhar el Ghazal where he could cause a significant level of tactical and political instability for the government.
The delayed, controversial, and highly anticipated National Dialogue finally launched on 22nd May 2017. Shortly after the inauguration, the President declared a ‘unilateral ceasefire’ to encourage opposition groups to take this opportunity to enter into the dialogue. This gesture excluded former VP Riek Machar, who President Kiir expressly declared at not welcome to the table. Since the inauguration of the National Dialogue, most are skeptical of the process and deem it to be exclusive. It appears that the government
INTERNEWS FY2017 Annual Report CA# AID-668-A-13-00005 October 2016-September 2017 Use or disclosure of data on this page is subject to the restriction on the cover sheet of this report. 12 is not taking this process seriously as a means to promote peace, instead just appeasing international actors.
The fourth quarter saw a deterioration of the overall state of security throughout South Sudan with a simultaneous decline in the economic situation. Since the end of the third quarter, there was a steady increase in incidents being reported in Juba with the notable return of compound intrusions. Additionally, there was an overall increased level of government-motivated obstructionism against the UN and international actors generally.
In August 2017, the international community in South Sudan had been exposed to several incidents, which contribute to an overall impression of increased government obstructionism. The following examples point to increased pressure against the international community which will likely continue in FY2018: more demanding work permit and registration requirements, government resistance against the deployment of the RPF, changes to vehicle registration and driver’s licenses targeted at NGOs, and additional administrative requirements for the hiring of charter flights traveling to conflict areas inhibited humanitarian assistance from reaching some regions.
Despite what seemed to be a success in the long drawn out process of deploying the RPF to Juba, President Salva Kiir held a press conference on 24th August 2017 where he apparently ordered his army and security not to co-operate with the RPF command, stating their actions could “undermine the nation’s sovereignty”. The month of September saw at least four heated stand-offs between the NSS or other government units and UNMISS convoys. Then, on 27th September 2017, President Salva Kiir called for the SPLA to cooperate fully with the newly deployed UNMISS RPF in Juba. The same day, at a UN Security Council meeting, David Shearer, the special representative for South Sudan, noted the difficulties the RPF had faced in its deployment, but said he remained committed to resolving these issues with Juba.
In September 2017, the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) applied sanctions upon officials and companies owned or controlled by them, pursuant to Executive Order (EO) 13664. While there is some speculation as to how effective the sanctions will be, based on actual assets in the US, the imposition of sanctions against will ultimately be seen as an aggressive gesture against the regime.
Early in the fourth quarter, the SPLA-iO Taban Deng (iG) otherwise known as SPLA-iO2, began a campaign to polarize people of Nuer ethnicity who were sympathetic to the original SPLA-iO by mounting a concerted military effort. SPLA-iO2 launched an information campaign to attempt to get people to leave the PoC and return to their homelands. Towards the end of FY2017, a spike in criminality within the Bentiu PoC ensued. This appears to be less of a condition of opportunistic crime but more likely a terror tactic used by the SPLA-iO2 to attempt to leverage former SPLA-iO supporters out of the PoC. This campaign is expected to continue. Thus, it is likely that crime in the Bentiu PoC and military engagement across the Nuer ethnic heartlands will continue to rise.
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OBJECTIVES, COMPONENTS, AND FY17 ACTIVITIES
The following pages are a narrative description of accomplishments in FY17 based on i-STREAM core objectives, components, and activities. The accomplishments are measured against activities and sub-activities as per the FY2017 Work Plan approved by USAID.
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OBJECTIVE 1: STRENGTHEN AUTONOMOUS, JOURNALISTIC PROFESSIONALISM AND FACILITATE THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN INSTITUTIONALLY WELL-MANAGED AND FINANCIALLY SELF-SUSTAINED, INDEPENDENT MEDIA IN SOUTH SUDAN
This objective is supported by five core components, each a discrete project in and of itself. These include: 1 Eye Media 2 The Radio Community (TRC) 3 Media and Journalism Training 4 Academic and Vocational Journalism Institutions 5 Ratings, Surveys and Market Assessments
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COMPONENT 1: EYE MEDIA
Overview Eye Radio 98.6 FM continues to broadcast a variety of news, programs, and entertainment 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from Juba and through its repeater network, currently on air in Torit, Yambio, Wau, Bor and Rumbek. Through separate funding from USAID/VISTAS (a pilot project funded through November 2017), Eye Radio Shortwave broadcasts 4 hours per day, one hour in the morning (07:00 – 08:00) and three hours in the evening (19:00 – 22:00). Website and online streaming is available at eyeradio.org, facebook.com/eyeradioss (Facebook), and @EyeRadioJuba (Twitter).
Programmatically, this has been a historic, exciting and intensive time of growth and development for Eye Media (EM). There has been a renewed commitment to a full service model – to inform, educate and entertain – blending a public service broadcasting mission with a commercial mindset that will attract more listeners and advertisers to ensure sustainability and support EM’s mission. EM continues to foster and support the success of Eye Radio’s news and programming to date, while building the organizational capacity. Moving into the final year of the i-STREAM project, EM has made tremendous strides in all aspects of establishing and operating itself as an independent 100% South Sudanese media development organization Based on four annual SATT/OSS assessments, three annual financial audits and the assessment of the advisory team, EM is on track and ready to receive multi-year core operational support (direct funding) from international donors.
"It is my hope and prayer that this email finds you all well and doing what you most love doing; to inform, educate and entertain the people of South Sudan. Always remember that you have a tool that is more powerful than an AK47, so always remember to embrace the power of radio." –Stephen Omiri, CEO, Eye Media in September 2017
FY2017 Management and Operations Highlights, Challenges and Accomplishments Metrics from the external SATT/OSS annual assessments show consistent advancements across key and recommended priority areas. Completion of the third annual financial audit: EM led the process with the external auditor, with minimal support from advisors, and is taking ownership to address audit findings and continue to shore up financial systems. Managing increasingly complex operational, security and logistical challenges and continually finding workable solutions for programming and organizational activities. Demonstrated capacity to weather the July 2016 crisis, remaining on air with contributions from an ethnically-diverse team of editors, journalists, presenters and support staff. With the consultation and approval of its Board of Trustees, an organizational restructuring exercise was undertaken to ensure Eye Media’s long-term sustainability. The exercise resulted in a 25% reduction in labor costs and $200,000 labor reduction in EM’s annual operating budget. With the continued deterioration of the South Sudanese economy, commercial and NGO fundraising opportunities have been seriously impaired, to the extent that further other direct costs budget cuts were necessary in FY2017 and again in FY2018. o Eye Media’s approved start-of-year FY2017 annual operating budget was approximately $1.8 million. Due to the economic situation in the country, EM has cut spending to keep pace with reduced program income generation. Actual FY2017 expenditure by year-end is projected to be closer to $1.5 million.
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Activity 1: Build a Sustainable, Resilient Organizational Framework: Governance, Strategy, and Planning
FY17 KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
FY16 recommendations for SATT/OSS integrated into FY17 work plan: October 2016 Fourth SATT/OSS completed: January 2017 Eye Media Board of Trustees bi-annual meetings held: October 2016 and April 2017 Executive Leadership Forum in Nairobi: January 2017 One-on-one executive coaching sessions: October-December 2016 Internal Controls Policy for Eye Radio finalized: November 2016 Briefings on areas of policy integrated to bi-monthly all staff meetings: January-March 2017 Annual work plan and budget for FY17 finalized: October 2016 Eye Media SMT presented annual work plan to USAID D&G Lead in Nairobi: November 2016 Eye Media earned a total of $$89,484 in program income, inclusive of grants and contracts Six-month contract with MTN signed for advertising and sponsorship of talkSPORT program: November 2016 Fundraising task force formed and campaign ideas generated: October-December 2016
1.1 Organizational Capacity Assessment Tool (SATT/OSS) Under i-STREAM, Internews uses an organizational capacity assessment (OCA) tool to gauge core local partners’ capacity, prioritize organizational development needs, tailor capacity building plans, and monitor progress toward greater sustainability. Building on a baseline conducted in mid- 2013 and subsequent annual assessments in 2015-2017, this tool is used to support Eye Media Organizational Capacity Assessment organizational development and strategic Scores planning, specifically monitor progress towards Apr-13 Dec-14 Jan-16 Jan-17 sustainability, such as financial management, Baseline 2nd Year 3rd Year 4th Year financial viability and partnerships. An Internews SATT 1.56 2.23 2.54 2.76 consultant performed the fourth annual assessment in January 2017 with the support and OSS 1.50 2.13 2.49 2.86 participation of Eye Media staff across the organization and the organizational development advisor. Select results from the FY2017 assessment follow:
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1.2 Governance and Board Development Eye Media’s Board of Trustees met in October 2017. Board members whose terms were up for renewal confirmed their interest in continuing to serve and were all reelected. The Board of Trustees discussed Eye Media’s annual budget for FY2017. As a fundraising strategy, the board suggested that EM engage with foreign embassies that are keen on supporting the peace agreement. During the Eye Radio shutdown in November, the board played a key role in advocacy and provided leadership support to the CEO. In addition, the board is supporting efforts to advocate to the government to reduce the prohibitive cost of frequency license fees. As per the SATT/OSS recommended priority area of focus, EM CEO continued to work closely with the board chair on board development, including deeper and more regular engagement by the chair and other board members in between in-person board meetings on political risk management (post-Nov 2016 shutdown), fundraising and staffing. In the third quarter, Eye Media’s Board of Trustees had their second bi-annual meeting in April 2017. The board chairman Michael Renzi and Eye Media CEO Stephen Omiri presided over the meeting. The primary focus of the meeting was organizational restructuring. The CEO briefed board members on steps taken by the management so far to ensure that the program was carried out professionally and ethically with minimal disruption. After a thoughtful discussion, the board endorsed the exercise. The board also requested that a six-point consideration was added to the selection criteria for staff to be retained under the new staffing structure. The six criteria points are 1) past performance, 2) commitment, 3) character, 4) teamwork, 5) ability to multitask and 6) ability to work under intense pressure. 1.3 Policy Development and Integration into Organizational Practice/Culture In FY2017 Q1, a conflict-specific editorial internal controls policy for Eye Radio was finalized. This policy was designed to guide journalists and assist the station’s management team in ensuring that news and programs that may be considered/perceived controversial in the current operating environment are thoroughly reviewed before the final decision to air/broadcast is permitted.
The final stages of Eye Media’s organizational restructuring process occurred in the third quarter. After months of planning and careful consideration of various scenarios factoring in Eye Radio’s vision, Eye Media announced to its entire staff the strategies for this exercise that would be effective. As part of this process, the Eye Media staff handbook, employment contract templates and job descriptions were reviewed and updated in line with the restructured organization. 1.4 Long-Term Strategy, Sustainability and Financial Planning With continued serious deterioration of the South Sudanese economy, both commercial and NGO fundraising opportunities were extremely limited in FY2017. A fundraising task force was formed
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(comprised of the Commercial Manager, Business Manager and Programming Manager) to prioritize the top fundraising leads and proactively reach out to pitch campaign ideas. To adapt to the high degree of financial uncertainty both in commercial and donor funding, Eye Media also recognized the necessity to analyze its cost structure and make significant reductions its annual operating budget. With the consultation and approval of its board of trustees, an organizational restructuring exercise was undertaken. The primary goal of the restructuring was to achieve a leaner, more effective, easy-to-manage organization. The exercise resulted in a $200,000 labor reduction in EM’s annual operating budget.
Other Direct Costs (ODC) budget cuts were necessary in FY2017: Eye Media’s approved start-of-year FY2017 annual operating budget was approximately $1.8 million. Due to the economic situation in the country, EM has cut spending to keep pace with reduced program income generation. Actual FY2017 expenditure by year-end is projected to be closer to $1.5 million.
Eye Radio journalists speak with attendees at the International Women's Day celebrations at John Garang Mausoleum
i-STREAM indicator 1.2 measures the percentage of revenue generated at Eye Radio and then applied directly to costs, as a way to assess long-term planning, sustainability, and financial planning capabilities. The revenue includes funds generated through advertising, grants from other organizations or other derived income, while costs refer to salary, benefits/insurance, contracts, office supplies, equipment, materials, travel and ODCs. Eye Media’s annual operating budget is approximately $1.8 million. In FY2017, Eye Media earned $89,484 in program income, inclusive of grants and contracts noted in this section. Adding the total earned from FY2015 and FY2016 (October 2014-September 2016) of
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$585,237; from October 2014 to date Eye Media has brought in $763,615. In FY2017, Eye Media earned $89,484; and they expensed $199,010. Due to rollover from past years, they retain $17,688 in unspent program income as of 30th September 2017.
1.5 Staff Development/Training to Support EM Strategy & Work Plan To ensure responsiveness to the operating environment and Eye Media priorities/needs, Eye Media staff development and training planning is fully informed by Eye Media-led During FY2017, the following training and organizational work planning together with individual staff coaching are notable: development needs. In February 2017, Eye Media senior managers participated in a three-day Eye Media continued to develop its capacity to manage its management workshop that focused USAID Internews sub-grant and prepare for direct funding on fundraising strategy, business from donors this fiscal year. To build capacity of Eye Media, development activities and the role, the CEO, business manager and Internews organizational functions, and priorities of the development advisor engaged in the following activities:. commercial division. Reviewed USAID requirements and criteria for direct In March 2017, the Eye Media business funding in preparation for FY2019 and beyond. manager, station manager, Eye Reviewed and developed of internal policy and Productions manager, programming process capacities for compliance with direct USAID editor, studio/engineering manager and funding. news editor to map out scenarios for Eye Media’s desired financial goals and 1.6 Strategic Relationship Building institutional reorganization. Maximizing existing institutional relationships and identifying In September 2017, the Eye Media the potential for new strategic partnerships is an important senior management team held a three- component of developing Eye Media’s vision and strategy day management and planning retreat. under the i-STREAM project. Currently Eye Media and Zain To identify, discuss, and agree upon are in public-private partnership. Eye Media is also the Eye Media’s priority focus areas strengthening ties and exploring potential informal partnership that will form the basis for the and collaboration mechanisms with The Radio Community FY2018 work plan and budget (TRC). process.
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Eye Media also continued to participate in activities that support development of the media sector e.g. with UJOSS, AMDISS, SSMSWG, National Editor’s Forum. The following are a few highlights demonstrating Eye Radio’s strategic relationships within the media sector:
Eye Radio’s station manager was re-elected as secretary at AMDISS’ annual general meeting. Eye Radio news editor was selected by the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission, JMEC as a moderator and presenter at a joint training on the ‘’Role of Media in Development.” The two- day workshop organized by JMEC and Ebony Center for Strategic Studies took place on 25th- 26th January 2017; where the editor presented on sensitive reporting and pitching stories that saves lives. Eye Radio station manager was selected as moderator by UNESCO for a three-day workshop on “Peace-building and conflict sensitive reporting” from 31st January to 2nd February 2017 where 60 peace correspondents gained knowledge on peace building, peaceful coexistence, non– violence. Peace correspondents were taught skills needed to conduct community peace forums, which are very critical in the process of national dialogue and reconciliation. One of Eye Radio’s editors attended a two-day USAID-sponsored workshop on family planning from 3rd-4th March in Juba. Although the training was primarily for health personnel working in reproductive health, the editor felt that it was important for her as a media personnel to be in contact with those in this field. She came away with a better understanding of the topic and is now in a better position to relay the information to Eye Radio listeners. Eye Radio received the first anti-corruption and transparency champion award from the local NGO Community Empowerment Progress Organization (CEPO) during the commemoration of World Press Freedom Day on 3rd May. On the same occasion, Eye Radio’s presenter Lasuba Memo was also recognized for his outstanding contribution to reporting on human rights issues, transparency and accountability.
Activity 2: Establish and Maintain National Repeater Network across State Capitals
FY17 KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Equipment for Juba signal extension project received (expected completion in FY2018): December 2016 Power consultant conducted a power audit of the Eye Radio compound: January 2017 Ongoing operation and maintenance of repeater network: October 2016-September 2017.
EM’s repeater network has increased Eye Radio listenership to state capitals and beyond. The repeater project is a component of EM’s sustainability approach, as an expanding audience will improve its revenue base through increased opportunities for advertising with existing and potential new clients.
Eye Media’s goal was to complete the expansion of the Eye Radio repeater network across the former 10 states of South Sudan. While all but two sites have been installed, with the conflict and ongoing instability, installation of the Bentiu and Malakal remains indefinitely on hold. As well, Eye Media has faced and continues to face a range of operational, political and economic challenges, particularly with Zain, who hosts some of the repeaters on its towers.
In addition to regular maintenance, certain sites experience longer downtime challenges. To address these challenges, Eye Radio’s senior managers travelled to investigate the possibility of relocating the Yambio repeater to the UNMISS compound. There, they met with the state minister of information, Gibson Bullen, to discuss the relationship between the state government and the UN Field office; as well as challenges faced by telecommunications company Zain, which is having trouble delivering fuel to the current transmission sites. Mr. Gibson Bullen stated that he will do everything possible to convince the UN Field Officer in Yambio to allow Eye Radio and telecommunications company Zain to maintain their partnership in order to cover the information gap within Gbudwe state. He added that “I will share your concern with the governor because if Eye Radio goes off, citizens will be asking a lot of questions.
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The imminent challenge for EM moving forward is the attempt by the National Communication Authority (NCA) to increase frequency licenses. On this issue EM is supported by its Board of Trustees, and members have promised to lobby relevant authorities to provide a subsidized fee for the main station in Juba its repeater network.
Eye Radio Coverage Status in South Sudan in FY2017
# Location/Former State New State Type Frequency Coverage^ Installed 1 Juba, Central Equatoria Jubek Station 98.6 FM 60km Jun-10 2 Torit, Eastern Equatoria Imatong Repeater 98.8 FM 40km Apr-15 3 Kuajok, Warrap Gogrial Repeater 88.8 FM 40km May-15 4 Aweil, Northern Bahr El Aweil Repeater 88.6 FM 40km Jun-15 Ghazal 5 Wau, Western Bahr El Wau Repeater 88.6 FM 40km Jun-15 6 Yambio,Ghazal Western Equatoria Gbudwe Repeater 89.0 FM 40km Oct-15 7 Rumbek, Lakes Western Repeater 88.6 FM 30km Jun-16 Lakes 8 Bor, Jonglei Jonglei Repeater 88.6 FM 30km Jun-16 *References the former 10 states as this was the basis of the original plan. ^ Coverage refers to area covered by signal in terms of radius kilometers2.
Activity 3: Quality Media Content on a Range of Key Issues Responsive to the Needs of Listeners
FY17 KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Eye Radio continued to broadcast throughout FY17, with a total of 5,266 news stories and 1,987 programs produced and broadcast in Juba and throughout the country via the Eye Radio repeater network and shortwave Launch of State Round Up, highlighting issues/happenings across the states: October 2016 Partnership with ACTED to broadcast financial literacy programs concluded: October 2016 Participate in activities that support development of the media sector in the country. E.g. with UJOSS, AMDISS, SSMSWG, National Editor’s Forum: October-December 2016 Two Eye Radio journalists receive awards for Human Rights Journalism: December 2016 Two journalists fluent in Arabic and English trained in presenting current affairs programs: January-March 2017 Eye Radio quizzed its listeners on Black History Month trivia for seven days: February 2017 Dawn and Sundown shows host a number of representatives from national NGOs partnering IOM, UNDP, and SUCCESS: January-March 2017 Revamp and cleaning of station’s music database to streamlined music data and establish a clear policy for Eye Radio: January-March 2017 18 months of daily Eye Radio Shortwave Service: September 2017
This section provides a descriptive overview of content generated and broadcast by Eye Media’s various platforms including Eye Radio FM (including repeaters and live, online streaming), Eye Radio Shortwave service, and the Eye Radio website, Facebook and Twitter. Eye Radio FM Eye Radio 98.6 FM is South Sudan’s only 24 hour radio station, providing a variety of news, programs, and entertainment in Juba, on repeater stations across South Sudan, streaming on its website and through Facebook and Twitter. Eye Radio’s programs vary in content and focus, including education, health, agriculture and other important issues, as well as music, sports and entertainment. Formats range from news and feature magazine programs, to outside broadcasts and special coverage. Internews tracks
INTERNEWS FY2017 Annual Report CA# AID-668-A-13-00005 October 2016-September 2017 Use or disclosure of data on this page is subject to the restriction on the cover sheet of this report. 22 and provides detailed reports of news and program highlights broadcast to USAID in weekly updates. The following demonstrate output and topics covered this fiscal year: In FY2017, Eye Radio FM produced a total of 5,266 news stories. The stories were produced in Juba, Central Equatoria State and broadcast across the country through Eye Radio’s repeater network and shortwave. The top three categories of stories during this period include governance (36%), security (22%) and humanitarian issues (11%). Of the news stories, 3,598 focused on national or local issues compared to 1,668 on international issues. In addition to news stories, Eye Radio also produced and broadcast over 1,987 live and pre- packaged programs (not including music programs) on Eye Radio and across the repeater network, which included talk shows, featured guests, and special coverage. The breakdown of programs by most heavily featured topics this year includes: governance (22%), peace (16%), and security (14%).
FY2017 Eye Media Program Content FY2017 Eye Media News Content Marginalized Marginalized Other Groups Groups 5% 2% 6% Other Business & 7% Economy Education Education 5% 5% 7% Governance 22% Health Business & 6% Governance Economy 36% 7% Peace Health Peace 8% 8% 16%
Security Security Humanitarian 14% 22% Humanitarian Issues Issues 11% 13%
In the third quarter, Eye Radio launched a new program called, Road to Peace, which focused on developments related to the Regional Protection Force arrival to Juba. The program covered the developments as the government went back on forth on supporting the deployment of the UNMISS forces. Eye Radio Shortwave Service (ERSS) In addition to FM radio in Juba, repeater locations, and live streaming online, in April 2016, Eye Media signed a contract with the USAID-funded VISTAS project to implement the Eye Radio Shortwave Service (ERSS) pilot project. ERSS covers all of South Sudan and bordering countries, including remote areas where communities cannot access FM radio. The signal has also been verified in many parts of the world including: United States, Italy, Netherlands, Hungary, Sweden, Sudan, Uganda and other areas. The service has also garnered BBC media coverage. On 26th April 2017, Eye Radio’s Shortwave Service marked one year of broadcast. ERSS supplements Eye Radio’s existing 24-hour FM broadcast in Juba and its repeater coverage across the country. Now broadcasting for 4 hours daily, primarily in Arabic a mixture of news and features on political and socio-cultural updates with a sport bulletin in English and a Language of the Day (LOD) (Bari, Dinka, Lotuho, Nuer, Shilluk and Zande), the shortwave service enables Eye Radio to reach audiences in remote locations that cannot tune in to the regular FM broadcast range. The shortwave is being broadcast (frequencies change seasonally): AM: 11,730 kHz (in the 25 meter band) from 7:00 – 8:00 AM PM: 17,730 kHz (in the 16 meter band) from 7:00 – 10:00 PM
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Activity 4: Strengthen Capacity to Implement Core Division Functions & Prioritized Areas of Growth/Development: Programing, Commercial and Business Admin FY17 KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Eye Radio the only radio station in Juba to broadcast live throughout holiday Season: December 2016 Eye Radio news editor moderates and presents at two-day JMEC workshop: January 2017 Eye Radio station manager moderates three-day UNESCO workshop: January-February 2017 Eye Radio special editor for peace and reconciliation facilitates three-day UJOSS workshop: February 2017 Eye Radio news editor participates in two-day workshop on women in media: February 2017 Eye Radio station manager participates in weeklong managerial training workshop by Journalists for Human Rights: February-March 2017 Eye Radio Dawn and Sundown editor participates in two-day USAID workshop on family planning: March 2017
4.1 Programming In FY2017, Eye Radio continued to provide trusted news and information to its listeners across the country. With its repeater network across major population centers and the introduction of shortwave service, Eye Radio is now well positioned as a leading broadcaster of credible news and information to South Sudanese people within the country and beyond. Eye Radio’s studio has been split into two sections in order to improve sound quality for recording news, sound bites and pre-recorded programs like Language of the Day, and commercials, PSA, promos, drama and music. Since the change, the audio quality of recorded news and programs has been noticed; and the queues and pressure to record have been reduced. Flagship programs including Talk to the People, Rhumba show, and sports shows underwent a rebranding. Efforts included: Refreshing outside broadcast for the Talk to the People program including increasing roundtable discussions on issues of peace, governance, reconciliation, rule of law and justice with their representatives. Rebranding the sports news and weekend edition including adding more English Premier League content. Rebranding the playlist and dedicating at least 60% to South Sudanese songs. Rebranding the Rhumba show to include latest Lingala and Congolese music. Programming highlights from FY2017: To mark the festive season and provide continuous broadcast, Eye Radio was the only radio station in South Sudan to broadcast live for 12 hours from 10 pm to 11 am on 24th December 2016 to 25th December 2016 and on 31st December 2016 to 1st January 2017. Eye Radio’s listeners called in to send greetings to their friends and families for the festive season. In line with Eye Radio’s programming strategic plan FY2017, the news desk introduced a 3-5 minutes State Round Up in October 2017 that is aired during the English/Arabic news bulletin at 1pm and 7pm. Broadcasted from Monday to Friday, this program aims at highlighting events from different states across South Sudan. Two major news items were the mass displacement of civilians in Wau town fleeing attacks, and the rising instances of food shortages affecting different communities across South Sudan. Eye Radio produced several reports about the plight of South Sudanese IDPs and refugees: o Eye Radio exclusively reported on severe hunger affecting IDPs who are currently living in the compound of the Episcopal Church in Wau. These people fled their homes in the village of Wathlelo in Rochroch Dong County in March, after a clash between the local people and cattle keepers. o Eye Radio interviewed Teddy Saki about her personal story and the challenges she faces as a South Sudanese Refugee living in Uganda. Teddy spoke about her perilous journey
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with her two children, the current deplorable situation in the camp where she stays, and how she manages to keep her children in school despite the challenges. In an attempt to streamline the station’s music database, Eye Radio’s Music Presenters and Studio technicians worked on cleaning all South Sudanese music files and re-uploading them with the proper metadata. This new initiative resulted in the establishment of a streamlined music data and a clear policy for Eye Radio. Complications such as those that arose from repetition of the same songs during the night shuffle were also addressed. The updated database now contains new trending songs that increasingly appeal to listeners. 4.2 Commercial This year, the commercial department focused on developing and strengthening its core capacities in Eye Sales (advertising, sponsorship, promotions, branding and marketing) and Eye Productions (in-house production for fee-for-service creative development and production of dramas, features and other production services as hired by commercial external clients, NGOs, government and the private sector) in FY2017. In the first quarter, the Commercial division's priority was consistent and successful implementation of its core duties, with attention to client delivery, repeat sales/clients to satisfy, retain, and reinforcing systems and processes. The Commercial division worked closely with senior management and across divisions to find ways to maintain existing clients and adapt revenue generation strategies in the context of the challenging, deteriorating economic situation. Internal revenues have significantly decreased since the beginning FY2017 due to the economic crisis within the country. In February 2017, the sales department experienced increased interest for interviews/talk shows from national NGOs supported by other organizations such as International Organization for Migration (IOM), United Nations Developmental Program (UNDP) and SUCCESS on the Dawn and Sundown shows. The majority of the NGOs focused on sexual gender-based violence; with a few drawing attention to eradication of discrimination on HIV/AIDS and the stigma on people living with the disease in communities within South Sudan. Here are some highlights of the national and international NGOs and agencies implementing campaigns on Eye Radio in FY2017: National Empowerment of Positive Women United (NEPWU) is implementing an HIV/AIDS awareness campaign in partnership with South Sudan Aids Commission with funding from IOM and UNAIDS. Monthly Women Forum/SUCCESS and Eve Organization for Women Development/Cordaid are implementing SGBC campaigns and addressing various forms of violence against women. The Sales team successfully negotiated the renewal of the BBC sponsored “Our School,” a Girl’s Education South Sudan contract for a period of nine months, later extended for another month. African Humanitarian Organization purchased three interviews on the Dawn Show focused on child protection, child-friendly spaces and health and nutrition. CEPO signed a two-month broadcast agreement with Eye Radio to air PSAs on agriculture. South Sudan Midwifery and Nurses Association ran spots informing the public about International Midwifery and Nurse’s Day and the role of midwives and nurses in improving health. The group also ran three PSAs a day for two weeks supporting girls’ education to caution against reproductive health problems due to early marriage. UNDP ran PSAs on the Economic Development Exhibition “Made in South Sudan”. University of Juba partnered with Eye Radio to advertise their new post-graduation program. In addition to NGOs and agencies, Eye Radio also secured corporate sponsorships: MTN South Sudan sponsored the “Weekend Sports” program for five months. The South Korean Sports Mission in South Sudan, Malek Airlines and The South Sudan Football Association partnered to sponsor the Djibouti – South Sudan game. Zain added more commercial spots and DJ mentions alongside sponsored programs.
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After 1.5 years Vivacell, a telecommunications company, decided to halt their sponsorship of the popular Rhumba Sukun Sukun Show citing the soaring prices of radio adverts. When the EM sales team negotiated, the company decided to run radio spots and DJ mentions instead. 4.3 Business Administration In FY2017, business administration focused on strengthening its core capacity to perform fundamental finance, HR, and Operations functions. The division, led by the business manager, also plays an important support role to the CEO, senior management team and board, including strategic and operational planning and budgeting, sub-grant management, fundraising and sustainability/financial scenario planning. Finance & Accounting This fiscal year, EM’s finance and accounting divisions focused on improving systems for financial management and reporting, developing and presenting monthly & quarterly financial and budget management reports to the senior management team, and improving filing systems, both digital and hardcopy. In October, Eye Media upgraded its finance system (QuickBooks) to capture all the revenue and expenditures from our clients and donors respectively. The finance division rolled out budget implementation specifications and guidelines for FY2017 in order to give staff members and the senior management team a chance to refine priorities before purchase of goods or services for their respective departments. The finance division has taken on complete responsibility of day-to-day activities with direct oversight of the business manager and CEO, in keeping with the departure of the accounting advisor who concluded their assignment in April 2017. Human Resources (HR) In FY2017, Eye Media human resources department: Implemented quarterly leave planning and updated the leave tracker. Improved digital and hardcopy filing and organization of personnel files on the server. Built Eye Media’s HR external network to share best practices in compliance with local laws. Reviewed staff benefits providers, managed administration of benefits and organized staff briefing sessions with the health insurance provider. Improved time and attendance management systems. Conducted review of all HR contract templates with legal counsel and revised as recommended. Developed annual holiday calendar for comp day scheduling and revised compliance policy. Held quarterly staff briefings on key policies and frequently asked questions.
Operations In FY2017, Eye Media operations department: Improved capacity in operations budgeting and monitoring. Internews assets were handed over to Eye Media; inventory and asset management guidelines were developed and key staff trained on the process. Support for the repeater roll out and other travel was provided. Fleet management guidelines and tools were developed, key staff were trained. Facilities management guidelines, tools and reporting requirements were created, key staff trained.
High temperatures and other technical issues were causing generators to repeatedly shutdown due to overheating, thus interrupting the normal broadcast hours. One of the recommendations was to immediately procure at least one new generator and a second smaller generator for evening hours to replace the existing generators that have currently outlived their lifespan. Eye Radio received two generators in April 2017 through an in-kind grant from VISTAS/USAID. The new generators were immediately installed to improve Eye Radio’s energy efficiency.
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Additional, longer-term recommendations for energy efficiency upgrades will be explored by Eye Media in FY2018. In particular, a major capital expenditure project has been identified as highly viable and would be extremely beneficial to the long-term sustainability of Eye Media – a solar project to provide 12-hour daytime energy to run Eye Radio’s FM transmitter, studio and offices in Juba.
Paul Abdalla Dominic, secretary in charge of refugee camps in Khartoum and regular listener of Eye Radio's Shortwave Service
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COMPONENT 2: THE RADIO COMMUNITY (TRC)
Overview Despite challenging circumstances, The Radio Community (TRC) has continued to broadcast over FY2017. Content highlights include: continued coverage of efforts to reestablish the 2015 Peace Agreement; exclusive interviews with former chief of staff Paul Malong; severe hunger and local economic turmoil. Additionally, a special program explored the political and economic situation in South Sudan 12 months after the return of the former first vice president to Juba and the subsequent fighting in July 2016. TRC reporters, presenters and editors were supported throughout the fiscal year by Internews’ team of international trainers. Staff were trained to create and implement the network’s editorial guidelines, station editors received management training, and they visited a commercial radio station.
The development of TRC as a South Sudanese NGO has progressed despite delays caused by the fighting in July 2016. By the end of the fiscal year TRC was ready to take on its first sub-grant, enabling TRC leadership team to take full responsibility for each stations’ running costs. The organization has published editorial guidelines that work as an essential guide and support for the organization’s values as a media body of accuracy, fairness and impartiality. TRC continues to be an integral and involved member of AMDISS and the editor’s forum.
In FY2017, TRC’s technical department made substantial progress in ensuring lasting technical sustainability. The department lead has worked to develop maintenance procedures, training materials and standardized network technical strategy plans. With support from Internews engineering trainer the TRC technical team finalized their design for new studio equipment and successfully installed it themselves. The work of TRC’s electrician received international recognition; he was invited to be a speaker at a technology conference in London to explain how he had designed and installed the solar power system at Mayardit FM in Warrap State TRC electrician, Issa Kassimu, presents his work at (pictured right). TechCon in the UK TRC relocated and rebranded its station in Northern Bhar el Ghazal. The station was moved to a new building in Aweil. TRC staff took the lead in fitting the station and recruiting new staff, with support from Internews. TRC’s managing editor led the delicate local political negotiations required to relocate the station. Supported by Internews he managed to successfully relocate staff, dispose of the old building and move to Aweil without any negative reaction from local community members or government officials.
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The most challenging situation TRC had to overcome related to the violence of July 2016. This had a severe impact on the organization and its development. TRC’s prospective CEO, John Gatluak, was killed in the July 2016 attack on the Internews compound, and for security reasons the TRC’s HQ staff were temporarily relocated to Uganda. The Internews project director supported and guided TRC through this period and through their reentry to Juba in Q3 of FY2017. During Q1-Q2, TRC developed ways of supporting the stations remotely. This situation forced the team to be creative and innovative in order to support the individual stations remotely. Using Skype conferencing and cloud-based administration systems, these new procedures proved highly successful in managing the network’s stations remotely. These systems continue to be used today, as the stations are remotely managed from Juba.
Activity 1: Continue to support current locations
FY17 KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Stations continued to broadcast throughout the year, with a total of 1,375 news stories and 509 programs produced and broadcast across South Sudan: October 2016-September 2017 Successful negotiations at Mayardit FM regarding state censorship: October-December 2016 Presentation of solar power for community radios at technology conferences: November 2016 Completion of solar study “how-to” research guide: November 2016 Technical support to TRC operations officers and stations: January-March 2017 AECOM VISTAS completed construction of Aweil station compound: November 2016 Studio equipment design & training for Aweil: October-December 2016 Studio equipment procured for new Aweil station: January-March 2017 New Aweil station is called Akol Yam FM (“new day” in Dinka), logo developed: March 2017 Start of technical fit out of new Aweil station and construction of mast: March 2017 New station opened in Aweil: May 2017
In FY2017, i-STREAM continued to support operational community radio stations that are part of The Radio Mayardit Community (TRC)3: FM
Akol Yam FM in Aweil, Northern Bahr el Ghazal state Mayardit FM in Turalei, Warrap state; Mingkaman FM in Awerial County, Lakes state with Bor Bureau in Jonglei state; Singaita The Radio Akol Yam Singaita FM in Kapoeta, Eastern Equatoria. Community FM Hub FM Internews currently supports 7 radio stations: 4 are community radio stations operated under TRC (reported here); 3 are humanitarian stations (reported in Component 10: Humanitarian Assistance)4. Nhomlaau FM in Malualkon was closed down in April 2017 and staff were recruited to work at Mingkaman FM Akol Yam in nearby Aweil town.
3 In previous reports, Nile FM was reported on as part of the TRC stations. The initial planning when it was first built, is that the station would move outside the PoC once the conflict ended, and then be relocated with the community. However, as this is not possible in the foreseeable future (and certainly not during the life of the i-STREAM award), Nile FM will continue to be managed by our Humanitarian team (reported under Component 10: Humanitarian Assistance). 4 The reason for the separation in the way these two groups of stations are managed is two-fold: 1) The Humanitarian stations are located with PoC sites or refugee camps and have an entirely different set of relationships, partners and remit in terms of sustainability. They were built as part of i-STREAM’s response to the crisis, and not as part of i-STREAM’s sustainability planning. And 2) as TRC develops into its own organization, they are providing support to the 4 community stations only in an effort to help them learn and grow more slowly, as per our original work plan. Once they are established, they may be able to take on additional stations. INTERNEWS FY2017 Annual Report CA# AID-668-A-13-00005 October 2016-September 2017 Use or disclosure of data on this page is subject to the restriction on the cover sheet of this report. 29
In response to the renewed outbreak of violence in July 2016, Internews project managers and journalism trainers were evacuated from the country. Since the evacuation, one Internews project manager and two journalism trainers supported all TRC stations remotely. The project manager supported the development of the radio association guide and community outreach efforts, as well as relocating the Nhomlaau FM station to Aweil. The Internews journalism, engineering and organizational development trainers supported the day-to-day capacity building efforts with an emphasis on editorial issues news production, technical sustainability and organizational development. In June 2017, TRC’s Hub in Juba introduced a new special program across the network of community radio stations in South Sudan. The radio program, called State of the Nation, took a long round format and detailed events following July 2016 when violence broke out in Juba, until the present day. This special program was played once across the stations and may become an annual feature. Included in the program were extensive interviews and vox pops from diverse listeners, including traders and customers about key issues such as prices and availability of goods, among a host of other topics. The program also featured the views of economists and a government response to the current situation since the violence broke out a year ago. For the first time, the programming the team conducted a listener survey as an exercise in open public consultation. Two-hundred listeners were asked to list what they thought should be the government’s priorities over the next 12 months. The results were given at the end of the program and Minister of Information, Michael Makuei provided a response to the survey results. Of the 30,000 solar radio handsets procured in FY2016 through i-STREAM, half were stolen during the unrest in July 2016. TRC collaborated with the Internews MERL department to plan for solar wind-up radio set distributions in 2017. The first distribution took place in Q4, where 4,294 radio sets were distributed near Akol Yam FM in Aweil, Northern Bahr el Ghazal in coordination with the station’s launch. The radio distribution field coordinator was coached on distribution methods in order to ensure accurate and maximum representation of diverse social groups. Total distributions at TRC sites (Mingkaman, Kapoeta and Turalei) will reach approximately 15,000 by the end of calendar year 2017. See report included as an attachment on the Aweil distribution. Site-specific highlights from FY2017 include: TRC Hub The TRC Hub production unit has continued to report the military court martial into the events at Terrain Hotel in July 2016. The proceedings are reportedly disorganized with a lot of time spent discussing legal and court procedures. Despite this, TRC reporters Chuol Jany Bol and John Regan Tut have provided fair and accurate reports of what is said in court pertinent to the events in July last year. The TRC Hub production team for the Peace Partners program interviewed Ambassador Phee. The interview focused on the GOSS and international community’s role and relations as they work to bring peace to South Sudan. The interview was dubbed into local languages and aired on all TRC stations news programs and the networked Peace Partners program. Nhomlaau FM Prior to closure and consolidation with the new station in Aweil, Nhomlaau FM covered the allegations of misappropriation of Girls Education South Sudan (GESS) funds. After several community members approached Nhomlaau FM when they hadn’t received the full Girls’ Education Allowance, Nhomlaau FM investigated the issue and the State Minister of Education promised to look at the matter. According to the investigation it appeared that teachers had pocketed some of the money for school repairs. The money was therefore refunded to the girls and their parents contacted the station to thank the journalists. When President Salva Kiir spoke out, saying that the security situation in the country had improved and the people living under UN protection should leave the camps and go home to farm, Nhomlaau FM featured his remarks in a news story. Supported by Internews journalism trainers, HIS journalists at the Bor PoC site collaborated with Nhomlaau FM to provide diverse perspectives by interviewing residents to get their response to the president’s comments. Not surprisingly, people said they are not ready to leave the PoC until there is guaranteed peace in the country.
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This reaction story, with the collaboration of colleagues on the Boda Boda Talk Talk team at Bor, was an excellent example of how journalists across the i-STREAM project can come together to bring fair and balanced coverage to listeners. As a result of a Nhomlaau FM investigative report on severe hunger in Korrok, food was finally delivered to Korrok town in April. An international NGO told a TRC journalist that they heard the news feature in March. As a result, the NGO corroborated the information with updates shared by the UN coordination agency and the SSRRC in Aweil region. They then gained access to the town and conducted their own assessment, which resulted in a food delivery at the end of the month. During the third quarter, Nhomlaau FM news and program editor also secured interviews with both General Paul Malong and the new General Chief of Staff, General James Ajonga Mawut. These interviews were then shared with TRC stations and Eye Radio. Following the closure of Nhomlaau FM, the majority of staff applied for and got positions at the new station in Aweil. The decision to close and hand over the property was acknowledged by the Aweil East governor. TRC’s network managing editor, Chris Marol, took the lead in managing community relations, supported by the Internews project director. The station’s move had become a political issue as it was based in the home village of former chief of staff, Paul Malong. The smooth transition for the station was made possible by Chris Marol’s local knowledge and strategic and technical support from the Internews project director. Akol Yam Akol Yam 91 FM launched and programing began on 18th May, 2017 with a call-in show to introduce the new station, its phone-in number and frequency. The station staff also started developing and using new branding with the slogan “Fresh, every day, with entertainment, education and information.” Prior to launch, two days of training were conducted on how to use the new studio equipment, including a new phone system that can put up to four calls on air at the same time and allows a producer to screen calls before they go to air. TRC network engineer Steven Lemmy observed that staff quickly became comfortable using the new studio equipment. “I’m happy at how easy it was to use the equipment…I saw ownership and ease of use.” TRC managing editor reviewed all 720 applications for new positions at the station. Two additional women trainee reporters have joined the team. In addition, TRC collaborated with Internews’ MERL department in FY2017 to distribute solar wind-up radio sets. In Q3, 4,294 radios were distributed in the coverage area of Akol Yam 91 FM. The radio distribution field coordinator was coached on distribution methods in order to ensure accurate and maximum representation of diverse social groups. See report included as an attachment on this process. Mayardit FM In October 2017, the National Security Service (NSS) notified the Mayardit FM that security personnel would be deployed to monitor and edit output, effectively amounting to censorship. The Ministry of Information of Twic State requested four hours per week of pre-recorded news stories to promote the core values of the Ministry. The Ministry’s request would jeopardize the station’s impartiality. Supported by the Internews project director, TRC’s network managing editor met with the state minister for clarification and spoke to NSS in Juba. Following the dialogue, the Ministry agreed to rescind its request. Demonstrating fair and balanced coverage, Mayardit FM invited the ministry’s director general and/or any other official to visit the radio station and discuss current affairs on air as part of a Mayardit FM program. Mayardit FM staff demonstrated exceptional diplomacy and handling of this very difficult situation. In addition to the direct meetings to avoid state censorship, Mayardit FM also began broadcasting a media literacy public serve announcement (PSA) twice an hour, which explains the position of Mayardit FM as an independent, impartial community radio station – educating the community about their role. Mayardit FM produced excellent content in FY2017. When the Mayardit FM journalists heard that the wife of one of their own was near death due to lack of blood during pregnancy complications, the team
INTERNEWS FY2017 Annual Report CA# AID-668-A-13-00005 October 2016-September 2017 Use or disclosure of data on this page is subject to the restriction on the cover sheet of this report. 31 members rushed to Mother Teresa Hospital in Turalei to donate, despite the taboo nature of blood donation in South Sudan. Following this, with the support of the Internews journalism trainer, the Mayardit FM team put together a news feature on their personal story about blood donation, which was broadcast on TRC stations across South Sudan to raise awareness of the issue. A success story is included as an attachment. George Abidha is the laboratory technician at Mother Teresa Hospital: “It’s the first time I’ve seen a group who’ve come to willingly donate blood, and I’d like to ask the Mayardit FM team to go out and pass the message to the community. I was really encouraged by what the team did to support their colleague.” In May, Mayardit FM’s news and programs editor travelled to a village in Gogrial State to investigate reports that 7,000 IDPs were struggling to survive from hunger. Residents were reportedly fled their villages when fighting escalated and were left with only leaves to eat. The local South Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission reported that six children had already died from severe hunger. Supported by Internews journalism trainer, the story and people’s voices were shared across TRC and with Eye Radio colleagues. Mingkaman FM In October 2016, Mingkaman FM became the first TRC station to broadcast a new daily news magazine show. A success story is included as an attachment to this report. The new program format encourages journalists at Mingkaman 100 FM to visit communities and invite contributors to the station. A local NGO, NURTURE, praised the station, saying “most people in the community hear peace messages on Mingkaman 100 FM.” In Q1, Mingkaman journalist, Kuol Anyar, broke a story about market corruption that later led to the firing of a state commissioner. Traders in the local market told journalists that security operatives had been sent by authorities to collect an illegal daily rent of 300SSP. Anyar collected stories from the traders and contacted state revenue authorities who responded that any tax beyond what is collected at the point of entry is illegal. Immediately, and due to Anyar’s actions, the state revenue authorities notified the commissioner to cease collection of the illegal tax and two days later he was released from his duties. Anyar was later threated by securities operatives for his reporting – a brave decision given the current environment. The traders were grateful and thanked Mingkaman FM, saying without the radio and Anyar’s action to give them a voice, their livelihood would have been in jeopardy. After a call-in program on education at Mingkaman FM, the journalists wrote a summary of the callers’ comments and used it as trail for future phone-in programs: “Listeners to Mingkaman 100 FM have been telling us how they believe more people today support equal rights to education for girls and boys. Those calling the Wednesday Good Morning program said they think perceptions are changing…The callers to Mingkaman 100 FM are also hopeful that girl child education will improve well in the next five years and more. We’ll be discussing more topics this week… keep listening to find out what our topic for discussion will Mingkaman FM trainee, Rhoda Ateng, interviews a trader in Bor be!” town market about the rising prices of essential food items
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Singaita FM The newest community radio station in Kapoeta continued to build their capacity as effective radio broadcast journalists. Due to the evacuation response in July 2016, planned on-site training was cut short for these promising journalists so remote training occurred to continue building their capacity. Two new journalist trainees were recruited during this period. The new journalist trainees learned how to use a voice recorder, as well as editing skills. The journalism trainer worked with them on basic scriptwriting and interview skills. The month of November 2016 was dedicated to intense remote mentoring to build the entire team’s basic radio journalism broadcast skills. The team also dealt with operational challenges including the lack of fuel. Due to fuel shortages in November, Singaita FM decided to reduce its daily broadcast hours from eight hours to six. Despite these challenges, the Singaita FM team demonstrated exceptional progress and quality reporting. Two highlights from early FY2017 included exclusive interviews with two returned South Sudanese Olympic athletes from the Kapoeta area and the minister of finance who spoke about the new national budget and the state of the economy. All TRC stations focused on the deepening hunger and famine crisis in South Sudan with a series of special in-depth humanitarian reports. Singaita FM produced a news report upon learning the news that three people had starved to death in Kapoeta East County in late January 2017. Singaita FM covered President Kiir’s visit to Kapoeta, with Internews trainers providing support to the TRC managing editor (in Juba) and Singaita FM editor (in Kapoeta) in planning and managing editorial/content requests from other TRC stations and Eye Radio. Singaita FM journalists provided coverage of the visit including the official welcome at the airstrip and the public rally addressed by the President. Singaita FM journalists also hosted a live, one-hour discussion program with the Kapoeta State governor, Louis Lobong. The station gathered questions from listeners – recording them in the market so they could be played in the program. The station editor planned the structure of the program, focusing questions on the key issues facing residents in the state including: health (cholera), security, hunger, market prices, and availability of electricity. In addition, the governor answered questions about his motivation for politics and his aims for his term of office. The Internews journalism trainer coached the team in preparation of the program. 1.1 Relocation and Construction of the new Nhomlaau FM in Aweil In November, AECOM VISTAS completed construction of the new radio station building, after TRC purchased a new plot of land using earned income in FY2016. TRC signed an agreement with AECOM VISTAS for the solar power system, which is expected to be installed in early FY2018. The new station is Akol Yam FM (see previous section), which means “new day” in Dinka and a logo has been commissioned. The Radio Community (TRC) accepted the new station building from AECOM VISTAS. TRC’s engineer and electrician arrived on site in March 2017 along with the Internews operational field coordinator. With technical and capacity support from Internews, the TRC technical department managed the fitting of the station, including soundproofing the studio and procuring locally made furniture. The studio’s technical equipment was selected, tested, and procured by the TRC managing engineer with mentoring and training from the Internews engineering trainer. The new station’s broadest reach now matches its Nhomlaau FM but also reaches further to the south and west to cover the former state of Northern Bahr el Ghazal. 1.3 Build Robust Technical Capacity and Establish Sustainable Sources of Power Following evacuation response in July 2016, the TRC HQ team has provided critical remote technical support via Skype teleconferencing. During the first two quarters of FY2017, TRC’s HQ team provided critical remote technical support to the community stations, which have no available local technical assistance. They developed customized IT solutions, using them to keep in touch and build technical capacity.
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Skype meetings are held twice a week. This has proved very beneficial in addressing the technical challenges faced. The technical team also uses TeamViewer, a computer application that gives remote computer access to fix problems or adjust settings. For example, when a laptop at the Kapoeta station had a problem with the audio editing system (Adobe Audition), the journalists could not edit any audio files. The setting was easily re-adjusted and fixed by the network engineer remotely, so the journalists could resume work. Each TRC station has a Google Drive folder to store all the technical documents including the log reports for the generators and training materials. This serves as a way of sharing information across the stations, as well as learning from each other. More functions are being added to the tool and training is ongoing. As part of a technical training visit to the UK, TRC electrician, Issa Kassimu presented his report on building a solar powered radio station to a UK radio industry conference, called TechCon 2016. Issa showed his design for combining solar panels and batteries, which powers Mayardit FM in Turalei for 16 hours a day, 7 days a week. The solar transmission report can be accessed here; it is also included as a success story and attached to this report. Preparations were made for power and studio upgrades at Mingkaman FM. Panels and batteries were sent to Mingkaman in preparation for the installation of a solar power system in the next quarter. The TRC engineer visited the site to draw up plans for infrastructure changes needed to accommodate the new power system and studio/transmitter upgrades. Capacity Building: TRC Engineering Team The Internews engineering trainer has been working with TRC’s network engineer to set up a centralized engineering department to serve the network’s stations. Training in the first quarter and regular mentoring throughout the fiscal year including a three-week training in July and August, saw TRC network engineer Steven Lemmy learn and put in place systems for managing TRC’s centralized engineering department. This includes maintenance and repair systems, technology strategy plans and technical upgrade project management planning. Documents such as the action plan and fault report system created by Lemmy are being used on a day- to-day basis. The technology strategy and broadcast continuity plan helped Lemmy to think more strategically and are important in helping him continue to become a more proactive manager. The idea is to no longer be fire-fighting and reacting to problems but to be able to work as part of the leadership team on long-term plans and options. The technical staff at TRC HQ and the operations officers now have regular, formal meetings with the station operations officers. Supported and mentored by the Internews engineering trainer, TRC also built robust sustainability in these areas: Recruit & Train First Maintenance Assistant There is little technical capacity or training available at the remote community radio locations. Equipment failures are often down to poor maintenance. To address this, TRC created the position of maintenance assistant. This role will support the engineering department in Juba. Supported by Internews engineering trainer, TRC recruited and trained its first maintenance assistant in June. The role involves detailed daily equipment and studio cleaning, and the maintenance assistant has also been trained to report faults, loose wires and other problems to the engineering team in Juba. Akol Yam 91 in Aweil is the first station to have a maintenance assistant. The other stations will recruit and train for the position in FY2018. New Studio phone System TRC stations have a broadcast radius of up to 100K, but with poor roads it is very difficult to get reporters to visit the most remote communities. The stations are reliant on a car and motorbikes which are expensive to maintain and run. To make output more inclusive, TRC sought a more sustainable news gathering solution – thus, a new phone system has been procured for the stations. The first installation was in May, the other installations will happen FY2018. With the support of the Internews engineering trainer, the phone system was designed by TRC’s network engineer in collaboration with the UK supplier. It is specifically designed to work with mobile phone networks in South Sudan and using a number of SIM cards can put 4 to 6 callers on air at the same time. Originally TRC stations could only take one call on air
INTERNEWS FY2017 Annual Report CA# AID-668-A-13-00005 October 2016-September 2017 Use or disclosure of data on this page is subject to the restriction on the cover sheet of this report. 34 at a time. Now the stations can air discussion programs, programs can diversify the number of callers on air at the same time, and journalists can record reports and interviews from remote locations. Studio Equipment Upgrades & Playout System To support the new phone system the stations required a studio upgrade. At the older stations the 10- year-old equipment was starting to fail, and the newer radio-in-a-box stations were in need of more robust long-term equipment. TRC’s network engineer was allowed to take a lead on design and treating of the new equipment, while being closely supported, trained and mentored by Internews engineering trainer. The first set of new studio kits were installed at Akol Yam in Q3. They also designed training and manuals and maintenance procedures, which will be used across the TRC network. Also included is an upgrade of the TRC broadcast playout software. The network’s technical team worked with the supplier to configure a system suitable for the stations output. The software will allow for broadcast automation and standardization across the network, as well as log and record output. Additionally, the new system will enable TRC HQ to provide proof of play for programing and advertising. More information about capacity building for the TRC lead radio engineer and TRC electrician can be found under Component 4. Activity 2: Support communities in establishing new radio stations in areas of greatest need 2.1 Radio-in-a-Box During FY2017, work continued to establish a radio-in-a-box in Bentiu PoC (see activities under Component 10: Humanitarian Assistance for more information). Radio-in-a-box under TRC is complete. 2.2 Complete Field Assessment of Potential Locations/Partners This sub-activity was completed in FY2016. 2.3 Establish New Stations This sub-activity was completed in FY2016. Activity 3: Ensure community involvement
FY17 KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Media literacy PSAs broadcast at Mayardit FM: October-December 2016 Step-by-Step Guide to Community Radio Associations completed: November 2016 Mayardit FM, Mingkaman FM and Singaita FMs’ radio association re-constituted: December 2016
Community involvement is key for a well-functioning community radio station. The Radio Community (TRC) stations take their role as community advocates very seriously and regularly solicit and collect feedback, perform outreach, and engage with the established group charged with radio station accountability – the radio association. All TRC stations engaged some form of outreach this fiscal year. In November 2017, Internews completed the Step-by-Step Guide to Community Radio Associations, which is an instructional manual for radio station teams on how to establish a radio association to increase audience engagement and accountability to the communities they serve. The guide is complete with feedback forms for the community and response forms for the radio station. The guide also contains a sample budget and certificates for members. The completion of this guide is a critical step toward establishing best practice across Internews-supported stations that are part of TRC. The guide assisted three TRC stations in establishing strong associations: Mingkama FM, Singaita FM and Mayardit FM reconstituted their radio associations after becoming dormant due to the conflict across the country. The new members were drawn from diverse backgrounds, include youth, women, religious and business leaders and broadly represent the listenership of the radio in the various counties of the state. The Mingkaman FM team cleverly used the frequent caller list to invite new and interested members to the association.
INTERNEWS FY2017 Annual Report CA# AID-668-A-13-00005 October 2016-September 2017 Use or disclosure of data on this page is subject to the restriction on the cover sheet of this report. 35
The selection of members was based on diversity and the signal area covered. There are no government officials and politicians involved at any stage of formation to ensure that it is an independent body. All stations look forward to increased interaction with the various segments of the community that they target since the associations are new and diverse. The signal coverage of Mayardit FM is fairly wide and the members of the association are drawn from as far as Abyei. Mayardit FM also brought on the board the first visually impaired member who also happens to be an avid listener. This is unique because people with disabilities are highly marginalized. Therefore, the decision by Mayardit FM to bring a visually impaired member on board is a step towards bringing issues of people with disabilities to the mainstream. The new members of these associations underwent a two-day training this year where they learned and gained understanding of the radio association constitution, including their responsibilities as members. They also learned to be an essential conduit through which the station can regularly solicit and collect feedback, perform outreach, and engage all crucial segments of the community. The Mingkaman FM radio association held their first successful outreach meeting across the river in Bor, Jonglei State. Community members, as well as town officials including the Bor mayor and state minister of information, participated in the meeting. Speaking during the meeting, Abuk Ayen Ayuen, secretary of the Radio Association at Mingkaman FM explained, “Communities in remote areas were afraid of discussing what they considered challenges facing them in understanding Mingkaman FM’s program structure. They [erroneously] thought the radio station belonged to the government and they would be arrested for discussing their views about the station’s content. This [misperception] is now changing for the better.”
Mayardit FM Radio Association Training 2nd August 2017 The new members of Mayardit FM’s radio association board met in Q4 for the first time and elected Peter Malek Gar as their chairperson. Mary Abuk Madut from Gogrial State was selected as deputy chairperson. At the meeting, acting news and program editor, Aguer Atem, presented t-shirts and membership certificates. Solar radios were also distributed so that listening groups can be set up to enhance the broadcast reach of Mayardit FM. Ater Mayar, a local chief from Gogrial and a member of The Radio Community Association, stated, “radio has a role to play by broadcasting peace messages so that everyone can understand the dangers of conflict.” Following a successful station launch, Akol Yam 91 FM plans to form their radio association in FY2018.
INTERNEWS FY2017 Annual Report CA# AID-668-A-13-00005 October 2016-September 2017 Use or disclosure of data on this page is subject to the restriction on the cover sheet of this report. 36
Activity 4: Improve and Professionalize Journalism and Program Making, with Quality Radio Content Responsive to the Needs of Listeners, other Key Stakeholders and Organizational Mission
FY17 KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Daily journalism “Top Tip” provided to TRC editors across country: October-December 2016 Mentoring of TRC news & program editors, journalists: October-December 2016 Launch of News Hour at TRC stations across country: October 2016 Singaita FM provides exclusive coverage on returned Olympic athletes and Minister of Finance: November 2016 Report on misappropriation of girls education funds at Nhomlaau FM: December 2016 Investigative Mayardit FM produced a news feature on a personal story about blood donation: March 2017 Mingkaman FM’s radio association holds outreach meeting in Bor: March 2017 Nhomlaau FM and Boda Boda Talk Talk at Bor PoC collaborate on a reaction story by providing IDP perspectives on relocation: March 2017 Singaita FM and Nhomlaau FM provide a series of special, in-depth reports on the worsening hunger situation in the country: January-March 2017 Women journalists at TRC stations take to the airwaves as TRC promotes women’s equality: DATE Program editorial support for TRC Peace Partners team: January-March 2017 International Women’s Day: March 2017 Mentoring for TRC editors and staff focused on developing the news bulletins and programs produced each day. Trainers worked with editors and journalists to deepen understanding of newsgathering, writing and production skills. A “top tip” was provided to all stations everyday as a targeted response to trending challenges encountered during various discussions with editors on their approaches to news presentation, interviewing skills, script writing, etc. Some of the major news and program themes across the stations focused on: Health: immunization campaigns, availability of basic clinic and hospital services, HIV/AIDs. Economy: national budget and price increases, food insecurity including reports of severe hunger in several parts of South Sudan. Corruption: misappropriation of Girls Education South Sudan (GESS) project cash incentives. UN observance days: International Women’s Day, World Press Freedom Day, World Refugee Day. President Salva Kiir’s visit to Eastern Equatoria. More information about general coverage is provided under Activity 4: Quality Radio Content, and specifically on peace, health, and women’s topics is provided under Component 11: Priority Thematic Areas. Journalism trainers worked with TRC editors to launch the News Hour program, which is an hour-long magazine style news talk show. Before the launch of the new show in October 2016, the teams of journalists at TRC stations across the country were producing simple news bulletins and reading them twice a day — once in English and once in the local language at each station. Now, the teams of radio journalists not only offer listeners in-depth reporting on the three biggest news stories of the day, but the show includes a phone-in segment where community members can join the conversation on the issues important to them. This achievement is profiled in a success story, which is featured as an attachment to this report. In February 2017, TRC’s news and programs editors gathered in Kampala for a master class on developing the TRC program schedule and strengthening leadership skills. More information about training course is provided under Component 3: Journalism and Media Training.
INTERNEWS FY2017 Annual Report CA# AID-668-A-13-00005 October 2016-September 2017 Use or disclosure of data on this page is subject to the restriction on the cover sheet of this report. 37
Part two of the master class will take place in FY2018, along with a training course for TRC’s women journalists and a course for newly recruited journalists, a postponed FY2017 activity. The new program was an exciting and challenging undertaking after the journalism trainer worked with the team for months to help them with the running order. Later in FY2017, News Hour programs began launching at TRC stations across the country. A success story is included as an attachment to this report with more information. Due to the evacuation response in July 2016, planned on-site training in Kapoeta (Singaita FM) was cut short for promising journalists so remote training occurred to continue the capacity building. Two new journalist trainees were recruited during this period. The new journalist trainees learned how to use a voice recorder, as well as editing skills. The journalism trainer worked with them on basic scriptwriting and interview skills. The month of November was also dedicated to intense remote mentoring to build the entire team’s basic radio journalism broadcast skills. In FY2017, mentoring of news and program editors, as well as broadcast journalist took place across the TRC stations albeit remotely (see Activity 1 for more). Journalism training progress across the TRC stations is tracked in the Journalism Skills Assessment Matrix discussed in more detail under Component 3: Journalism and Media Training. Mentoring and training is conducted throughout the year and progress is recorded for each journalist. In FY2017, The Radio Community (TRC) produced a total of 4,498 news stories. News stories feature both local and international news of the day and usually vary from 30 seconds to a few minutes of airtime. The stories were produced in Aweil, Northern Bahr el Ghazal state; Turalei, Warrap state; Malualkon, Northern Bahr El Ghazal state; Mingkaman, Lakes state; Bor, Jonglei state; and Kapoeta, Eastern Equatoria state and broadcast through the respective community radio stations. The top categories of stories during FY2017 include health (23%), security (16%), and business & economy (14%). The breakdown of news stories by station and top categories for FY2017 is: o Akol Yam FM/Nhomlaau FM produced a total of 1,245 news stories. The stories were produced in Aweil and Malualkon, Northern Bahr el Ghazal state. o Mayardit FM produced a total of 969 news stories. The stories were produced in Turalei, Warrap state. o Mingkaman FM produced a total of 1,384 news stories. The stories were produced in both Mingkaman, Lakes state and Bor, Jonglei state where Mingkaman FM has a local bureau. o Singaita FM produced a total of 899 news stories. The stories were produced in Kapoeta, Eastern Equatoria state. o TRC Hub produced one news story, which was distributed to partner stations.
FY2017 TRC News Content
Other 15% Health Agriculture 23% 6% Humanitarian Issues 8% Security 15%
Education 9% Business & Governance Economy 10% 14%
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In addition to news stories, TRC stations also produced and broadcast 3,240 pre-recorded programs and live radio across the network, which included talk shows, featured guests, call-ins, music and entertainment, and more. Programs vary in length from 10 minutes to 2 or more hours. The most featured topics were: health (22%) business & economy 13% and education (9%). The breakdown of news stories by station and top categories for FY2017 is:
o Akol Yam FM/Nhomlaau FM produced a total of 1,061 programs, produced in Aweil and Malualkon, Northern Bahr el Ghazal state. o Mayardit FM produced a total of 628 programs, produced in Turalei, Warrap state.
FY2017 TRC Program Content
Women & Other Girls 11% Health 6% 22% Peace 7%
Security Business & 7% Economy 13% Education Agriculture 9% 8% Humanitarian Governance Issues 8% 9% o Mingkaman FM produced a total of 1,146 programs, produced in both Mingkaman, Lakes state and Bor, Jonglei state where Mingkaman FM has a local bureau. o Singaita FM produced a total of 829 programs, produced in Kapoeta, Eastern Equatoria state. o The Radio Community Hub also produced 46 episodes of Partners for Peace, which were distributed to partner stations across South Sudan. More information about this program can be found under Component 11. o AIRS produced a total of 11 programs, produced in Agok and Turalei, Warrap state. Detailed reports of all the content broadcast is provided to USAID every week in Internews’ weekly report and content highlights. Activity 5: Establish a South Sudanese NGO to Support and Manage Community Radio Stations across South Sudan with a Focus on Governance, Strategy and Planning
FY17 KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Publication TRC Editorial Guidelines February 2017 Final capstone course for 18-month executive leadership program: January 2017 10-day training course in Kampala for TRC news & program editors: February 2017 Exposure visit to Capital FM in Kampala for TRC editors: February 2017 Mentoring of TRC news & program editors: January-March 2017 Mentoring of TRC broadcast journalists: January-March 2017 Capacity building for TRC managing engineer: January-March 2017
FY2017 brought challenges for the plan to development of TRC as a South Sudanese NGO – delays occurred due to the conflict, security situation and loss of TRC managing editor John Gatluak.
INTERNEWS FY2017 Annual Report CA# AID-668-A-13-00005 October 2016-September 2017 Use or disclosure of data on this page is subject to the restriction on the cover sheet of this report. 39
The Internews organizational development advisor worked with the TRC senior management and project team to make decisions about feasibility of establishing the TRC as a South Sudanese NGO. It was agreed to start the process with preparations for TRC to take on a small sub-grant in October 2017. Internews recruited a business advisor and trainer who will work with the TRC senior leadership team to put in place financial systems to manage the station running costs sub-grant. Governance and Establishment of Board This sub-activity is currently on hold until FY2018. 5.1 Executive Leadership Forum and Coaching (shared activity with Eye Media) As part of the 18-month executive coaching and leadership development project, the TRC managing editor Chris Marol continued to participate in two last bi-monthly individualized online executive coaching sessions, alongside Eye Media counterparts. The two bi-monthly online individual coaching sessions focused on leadership style, strategic planning and organizational goals. Remote coaching for an additional TRC senior leader Steven Lemmy, the TRC radio engineer began in October 2016. The final week-long in-person workshop was held in Nairobi in January. Participants in the entire 18-month program included from Eye Media Stephen Omiri, CEO and Koang Pal Chang, Eye Radio Station Manager and from The Radio Community Chris Marol, Network Managing Editor. Steven Lemmy, Network Engineer also joined for this final week-long session. This was the culmination of the 18-month leadership development program that included a mix of remote and in-person one-on-one executive coaching, small group sessions discussing issues/strategy specific to each organization, leadership/management readings and discussion, and four, one-week intensive workshops covering a diverse range of leadership and management topics. A central focus of the program was to present models for ethical and moral leadership in mission-driven organizations and how to hold true to those values in a challenging civil society context and post-conflict environment. The capstone project for the 3 senior leaders who completed the course was a reflection on the coaching, personal/professional development, readings, psychometric assessments (i.e. Meyers Briggs, Social Styles, etc.). Each leader with support from Executive Coach and lead trainer Tom Livingston, wrote an essay to present their own leadership and management principles.
Executive Leadership Workshop for Eye Media and TRC Senior Leadership Staff in Nairobi
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In this final workshop, they refined, practiced and made presentations to the group as well as chief of party and component leads (organizational development advisor and community radio director). They also discussed how they plan to share their leadership principles with their teams and integrate into their strategies for leading their organizations, saying now a critical next step is to “take it to (our) team(s).” 5.3 Policy Development and Integration into Organizational Practice/Culture The TRC editorial guidelines were finalized and published in March. This is a major accomplishment for the new South Sudanese media house and represents 18-months of work to compile, revise and edit by TRC senior editorial staff supported and mentored by the Internnews project director. The guidelines are there to ensure the networks’ editorial values are explained and followed, the document now forms the basis of ongoing training. The TRC network managing editor made the first of a series of leadership visits to stations to meet staff to explain the network’s leadership principles, as well as to enable staff to discuss and learn about the network’s editorial guidelines. The managing editor traveled to Mayardit FM in Turalei, where he spent two weeks working with the station editor to revise station output. The visits continued throughout FY2017 and followed on from the TRC management meeting and training session in Kampala in Q2. 5.4 Organizational Capacity Assessment Tool (SATT/OSS) This sub-activity was initially conducted in FY2016, and the next assessment is planned in FY2018. 5.5 Annual Work Planning, Budgeting and Sub-grant Management This sub-activity will be conducted in FY2018, following the issuance of TRC’s first sub-grant in October 2017. A new TRC accounting advisor (shared with Eye Media) has also been recruited as part of the team of organizational development advisors supporting the path to sustainability of Internews’ local partners, The Radio Community and Eye Media. As TRC moves to become an independent and self-sustained entity, the TRC senior leadership team came together for an intensive planning and implementation workshop to establish the financial systems needed to receive an i-STREAM sub-grant in October 2017. The leadership team, including the TRC network managing editor and the TRC network engineer, provided input into a conceptual design for TRC’s new organizational finance procedures and communications protocols. A five-day TRC sub-grants workshop was conducted to orient the TRC managing editor and TRC engineer supported and led by the Internews capacity development advisor and financial advisor. A series of workshops have been held with TRC senior management team to cover reporting responsibilities, roll out a plan for activation of TRC’s projected spending for November and finalization of a communications strategy as revised financial systems are introduced. 5.6 Long-Term Strategy and Financial Planning This sub-activity be conducted FY2018.
Officials tour the Akol Yam Station
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COMPONENT 3: JOURNALISM AND MEDIA TRAINING
Overview The Internews approach to capacity building is comprehensive and dynamic. Classroom and on-the-job training is targeted based on unique needs of the partner. Per this approach, Internews continued to build capacity of key local partners in a variety of ways through training and mentoring carried out by both embedded and remote trainers and advisors, targeted capacity-building site visits, sharing resource documents and tools, and exposure trainings among others.
Activity 1: The Training Framework
FY17 KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Journalism Skills Matrix tool revised and released for implementation: March 2017 Trainers resources e-library updated and maintained: January-March 2017
During FY2017, i-STREAM provided formal training5 to a total of 139 journalists, community correspondents, and media outlet staff, including 40 women. Trainings were conducted by Internews and other i-STREAM partners.
Number of Journalists Trained* by i-STREAM in FY2017 by Media Type Media Type Men Women Total Radio 44 16 60 Print/Newspaper 5 1 6 Television/Film 32 17 49 Other Media Organization 18 6 24 TOTAL 99 40 139 *All formal training is conducted on-site and in-person. This does not include remote training or coaching.
1.1 Skills matrix Building upon FY2016’s baseline assessment of journalism skills across all Internews supported stations and sites, Internews trainers and M&E specialists conducted a thorough review of the assessment tool and data collection process in preparation for a second year of implementation in FY2017. In response to trainers’ feedback on the baseline assessment, as well as in anticipation of the need to accommodate remote trainers conducting the assessment, the Internews Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, and Learning (MERL) team re-designed the Matrix in Q1. The updated and improved version of the Matrix was completed in Q2 and deployed in the field immediately thereafter.
5 Formal training is distinct from mentoring. INTERNEWS FY2017 Annual Report CA# AID-668-A-13-00005 October 2016-September 2017 Use or disclosure of data on this page is subject to the restriction on the cover sheet of this report. 42
The Journalism Skills Assessment Matrix is a comprehensive system that tracks the progress of journalists and correspondents in the development of their professional capacity. The modular curriculum has been designed to focus on a typical learning journey for broadcast journalists, including specialized skillsets on management and humanitarian journalism. In total, there are 6 modules and 24 units. The Matrix not only guides training efforts; it also serves as a tool to assess the impact and effectiveness of those efforts. As such, the aim is for all journalists and editors to be evaluated on an annual basis using the Matrix, so that long-term staff can measure growth in their skills as well as identify areas where they need further training. Year two scores will also be used to measure indicator 1.1, the increase in the professional capacity of journalists and managers at Internews-supported stations.
Average Score by Location, FY16-FY17 5 4 3 2 1 FY16 Average FY17 Average
Mayardit FM Mingkaman FM Nhomlaau FM Nile FM BBTT Bentiu/Kondial FM BBTT UN House All
1.2 TRC staff linked to University of Juba diploma course This activity was completed in FY2016.
1.3 Tools and guidelines An online database containing tips, exercises, guides, templates, and other resources is available to all trainers on Egnyte, Internews’ centralized document database. The e-library is organized by topic and skill, so that trainers can easily find and locate resources as they organize trainings according to the Journalism Skills Assessment Matrix, referenced above under Activity 1.1.
Activity 2: Core Training Approach FY17 KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Remote and embedded trainers and advisors spent 1,925 days mentoring journalists across South Sudan: October 2016-September 2017 99 journalists at Internews-supported stations and projects were mentored by remote and embedded trainers across South Sudan : October 2016-September 2017 139 journalists and media outlet staff received formal training: October 2016-September 2017 BBTT Bor Team Leader participates in educational trip to US through State Dept. Edward R. Murrow Program for Journalists: November 2016 TRC radio engineer and Internews electrician participate in educational trip to UK and present at Radio TechCon, global radio conference: November-December 2016 Training course for TRC News & Program Editors: February 2017 Exposure visit to Capital FM for TRC editors: February 2017 Capacity building for TRC Managing Engineer: January-March 2017 TRC Editorial Guidelines published: February 2017 INTERNEWS FY2017 Annual Report CA# AID-668-A-13-00005 October 2016-September 2017 Use or disclosure of data on this page is subject to the restriction on the cover sheet of this report. 43
2.1 Master classes TRC lead journalism trainer conducted a two-week news & programs editor’s training course in Kampala from 6th-17th February, focusing on further developing the TRC program schedule, editorial leadership skills and equipping news and program editors with the skills and confidence required to use the new TRC editorial guidelines in their everyday work. The training workshop concluded with presentations by each news and program editor to the TRC network managing editor, project director, senior engineer and lead journalism trainer on key learning points and highlights from the training. They were delivered in a form of a radio interview, reinforcing practical training from the first week. An exposure component was also included in the master class. See Activity 2.3 below.
TRC Trainers Hosted a Two-Week Editors Training Course in Kampala in February 2017
2.2 Mentoring development The Internews embedded trainer approach is unique and differentiates itself from a standard training model. Embedded expert trainers sit side-by-side with their counterparts on a daily basis, as advisors, coaches and mentors to The Radio Community (TRC) and Humanitarian Information Service (HIS) Boda Boda Talk Talk managers, editors and journalists, using day-to-day challenges and opportunities as practical learning examples. Mentoring relationships develop organically and differ in impact from person to person, but provide an invaluable way to learn and improve skills. Although most trainers were remote- based during the first quarter due to revised re-entry requirements in the post-evacuation period, Internews trainers provided daily remote mentoring via Skype.
INTERNEWS FY2017 Annual Report CA# AID-668-A-13-00005 October 2016-September 2017 Use or disclosure of data on this page is subject to the restriction on the cover sheet of this report. 44
Internews provided mentorship to a total of 99 journalists in, including 27 women, which means 27% of our mentored journalists were women in FY2017. Internews embedded trainers and advisors provided a combined 1,925 days of remote and on-site mentoring (see table below).
# of Journalists* Mentored at Internews Affiliates in FY2017 Affiliation Men Women Total Eye Media 15 9 24 The Radio Community 36 13 49 HIS Boda Boda Talk Talk 21 5 26 TOTAL 72 27 99
At Eye Radio, 24 journalists (including 9 women) were mentored in basic to advanced reporting, production, editing, and general management skills. Internews advisors also mentored 24 non- journalist staff (including 6 women). Throughout FY2017, advisors continued to work with Eye Media senior management to build up strengths in business administration (including finance, HR, operations), management, sales and marketing, news writing, production and other key areas. Advisors provided 415 days of on-the-job core-skills training and mentoring to Eye Media staff, working side-by-side with staff on a daily basis in their own environments.
% Level of Effort and Mentoring* Days at Eye Media in FY2017 Focus Areas Level of Effort (%) # of Mentoring Days 40% Business Administration, 30% (Senior Organizational Management Team (SMT), 20% Commercial, 115 Development 10% Management 60% Eye Radio, 30% Eye Productions, 10% Radio 55 SMT Operations 80% Operation, 20% Business Administration 100 Finance & Administration 80% Accounting, 20% Business Administration 145 TOTAL 415
At TRC, 49 journalists were mentored (including 13 women) in basic reporting, production, editing, ethics, and general management and engineering skills. Throughout the fiscal year, remote trainers provided a total of 320 days of on-the-job core-skills training and mentoring, working side-by-side with journalists at Mayardit FM, Mingkaman FM, Nhomlaau FM, and Singaita FM on a daily remotely and in-person. At The Radio Community Hub and Nile FM, an organizational development advisor and journalism trainer were embedded and provided on-site mentoring.
Focus Areas and Mentoring* Days at TRC stations in FY2017 # of Mentoring Station Focus Areas Days Organizational development 54 The Radio Community Hub* Leadership and management 123 Engineering management 80 Editorial and management support 74 All stations (Mayardit FM, Bespoke journalism support 116 Mingkaman FM, Akol Governance practices, radio associations 50 Yam/Nhomlaau FM, Singaita FM) Journalism and radio production 134 Nile FM Journalism and radio production 54 TOTAL 685 *Mentoring at The Radio Community Hub was conducted in-person and on-site.
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Within the HIS Boda Boda Talk Talk (BBTT) projects, 26 journalists (including 5 women) were trained and mentored in basic reporting, production, ethics and communicating with communities (CwC) skills. Throughout fiscal year, trainers provided a total of 825 days of on-the-job core-skills training and mentoring, working side-by-side with journalists at UN House, Bor PoC, and Bentiu PoC on a daily basis via Skype and in-person. At Ajoung Thok, a journalism trainer was embedded and provided on-site mentoring.
Focus Areas and Mentoring* Days at HIS sites in FY2017 (October 2016-September 2017) Station/Site Focus Areas # of Mentoring Days Jamjang FM 137 Editorial and management Nile FM 276 support, bespoke journalism Bor PoC BBTT 75.5 support, communicating with Bentiu BBTT and Kondial FM 213 communities UN House BBTT 123.5 TOTAL 825 *Mentoring at all HIS sites was conducted in-person and on-site, except for Bor and some of the UN House PoC days.
Further details about mentoring for Eye Media (Component 1), The Radio Community (Component 2), and the Humanitarian Information Service (Component 10) may be found under the respective components.
2.3 Exposure training Many journalists working in radio stations in South Sudan have no way to compare what they learn, or to have visible goals to aspire to. One of the most effective training methods is to provide opportunities for journalists in South Sudan to see what the developed media markets actually look like and how they work. The following are highlights from exposure trips in FY2017, many are also featured as success stories, attached to this report: Bor BBTT Team Leader, Puot Panyuan participated in a three-week educational trip across the USA as part of the U.S. State Department Edward R. Murrow Program for Journalists. Puot visited four US cities (Washington DC, Tampa, Minneapolis, and New York City), met with leaders in the journalism, foreign policy, and security fields, and explored current trends and challenges to media, and the rights and responsibilities of a free press in a democracy. TRC engineer Steven Lemmy and network electrician Issa Kassimu traveled to the UK for training and to present and participate at TechCon, a conference for broadcast engineers and radio managers. TRC electrician Issa Kassimu presented his report on building a solar powered radio station to a UK radio industry conference. Albany Associates (under cost-share agreement with Internews) facilitated a visit for Issa and Steven to Ofcom (the UK communications regulator) during their exposure trip to discuss licensing of TV and radio services in the UK and management of electromagnetic spectrum for TV and radio. As part of the master class (see section 2.1), training participants visited Capital FM in Kampala and were hosted by the station's programming director who gave a presentation on audience research, scheduling and the station style guides.
Activity 3: Specialized Contextual Approach 3.1 Conflict Sensitive Journalism This sub-activity was completed in FY2016.
3.2 Training for Humanitarian Response: Community Correspondents and Citizen Journalists (See Component 10: Humanitarian Assistance) This sub-activity is reported under Component 10: Humanitarian Assistance.
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COMPONENT 4: ACADEMIC AND VOCATIONAL JOURNALISM INSTITUTIONS
Activity 1: Media Development Institute: Certificate programs for the professional strengthening of working media (Norwegian People’s Aid, AMDISS and MDI)
FY17 KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Small grant issued to AMDISS to complete the first class of MDI graduates: October 2016 MDI completes last two modules –of nine-month course, Reporting on Extractive Industries and Internship: October-November 2016 19 graduates received the Advanced Certificate in Journalism from MDI: November 2016 Installation of new radio studio equipment at AMDISS/MDI: January 2017 AMDISS operates media resource hub to journalists and media houses: January-March 2017
The Media Development Institute (MDI) implemented by AMDISS, concluded the nine-month journalism certificate program in the first quarter, through a grant extension, which was awarded at the end of FY2016. This was the first ever long-term training conducted by the media sector in South – a total of 19 graduates (four women), received an Advanced Certificate in Journalism. Most of these students are practicing journalists with various media houses, others are students from the Communication Department in the Juba University and others are freelancers.
The seventh module of the program was on “Reporting on Extractive Industries”, while the eighth and final module was an internship with a local media house, which concluded in mid-November 2016. During this time, most of the interns carried out live radio broadcasts in a variety of approaches ranging from news reading and presentation to program production, while others interned at local newspapers and published their own articles. A success story on MDI is included as an attachment to this report.
At the end of November, AMDISS held a ceremony for the 19 MDI graduates. Over 200 people attended the function, including a precession throughout the city, complete with the police marching band. The occasion was marked with various speeches given by key representatives from the ministry of higher education, offering their full support to see the nascent institute to grow.
Following a successful first class of graduates, worked during the second quarter to guarantee funding for the second iteration of the one-of-a-kind, nine-month journalism certificate program. In particular, AMDISS held a series of senior management meetings by the executive committee to discuss the issue. As a result of the meeting, AMDISS officials met with the ministry of higher education, science and technology to discuss the registration of MDI. An agreement was made to form a separate board for MDI and most importantly, it was decided to accept a second class of students to MDI beginning with the first four modules. Because additional funds are still needed for the remaining four modules, efforts would continue to generate these funds. Discussions were held with a variety of stakeholders to determine a way forward. i-STREAM provided technical support to AMDISS through the installation of new studio equipment to benefit the participants in the vocational journalism diploma course. The new equipment, which was procured through UNESCO, was unusable until i-STREAM was able to install it. Other upgrades to the facility such as stronger doors for better security were also made possible with i-STREAM support. The same specialist radio engineer who provided the installation also provided basic training to the AMDISS media development officer on how to operate the radio.
It is in this current environment of scarcity of funds and a worsening economic climate that support from i-
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STREAM has helped to pay running costs to keep the AMDISS office operating, which serves as a hub and refuge for both journalists and media houses and organizations across the country. A resource room at the center has been dedicated for the use of both freelance journalists and staff of otherwise collapsing institutions. Media sector partners benefit from the access to a number of resources free of charge. A success story documenting this media hub initiative is provided as an attachment to this report.
The MDI board of trustees was formed, which counts nine members including representation from the University of Juba, civil society, legal and media institutions, religious and women’s groups. The board held its first meeting on 12th May 2017. AMDISS, which manages MDI, briefed the board on their terms of reference including developing a constitution, registering with the ministry of education, assisting to lobby for funds, and hiring a principal. The following are highlights from MDI in FY2017: Members deliberated on the MDI curriculum compared and contrasted curriculums of similar institutions within East Africa. The possibility of expanding MDI from the current one-year broadcast journalism program to a three-year program was considered, but was ultimately rejected. The addition of another module focusing on English language skills was adopted and proposed. The English language module will be considered the first module of the program. Recruitment of the MDI Principal began. Criteria for recruitment of trainees were discussed for the next class intake. The board instructed the AMDISS/MDI secretariat to prepare announcement for the next intake of trainees.
Lastly, AMDISS officially launched a radio production studio at MDI in support of its broadcast journalism training course. AMDISS received funds from UNESCO for the purchase of the radio equipment, however Internews installed the equipment and trained staff on its proper use. Different agencies, government institutions and media houses attended the function, including the Director General at the Ministry of Information, the US Embassy PAO, representatives from the French and Japanese embassies, NPA, UNESCO and the Internews COP.
Activity 2: University of Juba: Practical training module and media center
FY17 KEY ACCOMPLISHMENT
Rhodes University team finalizes draft of Teachers' Guide and Student Guide for UoJ curriculum: January-March 2017
Internews is working with Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa and the University of Juba to develop a Broadcast Journalism diploma curriculum. Journalism education specialists from Rhodes University continued to work on the detail of the diploma modules. In particular, they have been finalizing the Teachers' Guide and Student Guide to submit to the University of Juba. This is a more detailed version of the curriculum including guidance on teaching sessions, resources, materials and assignments.
The entire curriculum product in the form of the teachers’ guide, student guide and university-approved syllabus was submitted to the University of Juba for final sign-off on the design, layout and content structure. Staff at the university have proofread and approved the completed version of the document pack. The project team leader from Rhodes University is currently working with a designer to complete the layout and to ensure the curriculum documents are ready for print and digital upload.
The project manager is providing remote support and advice to the University of Juba teaching team. The University of Juba has expressed its commitment to the project and has plans to commence the student recruitment process during 2017.
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Activity 3: Broadcast Training Academy: Expand support for technological and engineering skills and capabilities
FY17 KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Training on technological and engineering skills for TRC radio engineer: October–December 2016 Ongoing mentoring and coaching for TRC managing engineer on technological and engineering skills: January–August 2017 Management and broadcast playout system training: August–September 2017 Radio engineering manual and PowerPoint completed
In the first quarter of FY2017, Internews recruited a specialist trainer to develop and implement a 12- month capacity building plan using a rigorous training of trainer (ToT) approach for the TRC radio engineer. The purpose was to set up a central technical management and support hub for TRC stations. Remote coaching was conducted throughout the fiscal year and an exposure training visit took place in the UK (see Component 3).
During the first quarter, the Internews engineering trainer mentored and trained with TRC’s network engineer to research, design and procure new studio equipment. This equipment will be used to improve sustainable studio systems (see 1.3 Build Robust Technical Capacity). TRC’s network engineer, Steven Lemmy, and electrician, Issa Kassimu were trained by the supplier to successfully connect all of the equipment for a two-studio radio station, including the central apparatus area and phone-in system. In the third quarter, the supplier supported them to install the first set of equipment at Akol Yam in Aweil.
TRC stations have limited technical capacity. The Internews engineering trainer worked with TRC’s network engineer to develop training materials and used basic ToT principles to build capacity. The image below is a slide from the training course, which shows the use of photographs of the actual equipment together with arrows and simple text to explain the operation.
A similar planning and procurement mentoring approach was used to select a new broadcast playout system in FY2017. Quotes were obtained, the price agreed and funding approved for systems for four radio stations each with two studios and a single studio training setup for Juba. This was followed with playout system training in August.
With continued training and regular mentoring throughout the year and a three-week training in Q4, TRC network engineer put systems in place for managing TRC’s centralized engineering department. This includes maintenance and repair systems, technology strategy plans and technical upgrade project management planning. As part of this, the network engineer has created an action plan and fault report system that are being used on a daily basis. The technology strategy and broadcast continuity plan helped the network engineer
INTERNEWS FY2017 Annual Report CA# AID-668-A-13-00005 October 2016-September 2017 Use or disclosure of data on this page is subject to the restriction on the cover sheet of this report. 49 to think more strategically and are helping him continue to become a more proactive manager. The purpose of trying to be more strategic is to become less reactionary and instead, be able to work as part of the leadership team on long-term sustainability of TRC. The technical staff at TRC HQ and the operations officers now have regular daily team meetings and weekly Skype meetings with the station operations officers. TRC network engineer, Steven Lemmy, produced the following policy documents in FY2017: Personal development plan for network engineer, with training needs and deadlines. Project timetable for the studios, transmitters and playout system upgrades, with dependencies and schedule. Roles and responsibilities map of the TRC engineering team. Broadcast Continuity Plan outlining the key technology risk factors for TRC broadcast operations, and identifying mitigation. Technical Strategy Plan describing the priorities for the next five years. Five-year technology investment plan for capital and revenue to support Technical Strategy Plan. IT support needs outline for TRC given the convergence of broadcast and IT technologies. Monthly report template on technology achievements and plans for the TRC leadership team. Guideline and template for creating equipment lists for each radio station, and an understanding of the difference between an equipment list and an asset register. A second version of the fault reporting spreadsheet was created after the network engineer recognized issues with the previous version. The new version is being used by TRC stations.
Akol Yam 91 FM was fitted by the TRC station engineer, Steven Lemmy
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COMPONENT 5: RATINGS SYSTEMS, AUDIENCE SURVEYS, MARKET ASSESSMENTS
This component was completed in FY2016.
INTERNEWS FY2017 Annual Report CA# AID-668-A-13-00005 October 2016-September 2017 Use or disclosure of data on this page is subject to the restriction on the cover sheet of this report. 51
Journalists receive practical training on kidnapping and arbitrary arrest during a session on physical and digital security
OBJECTIVE 2: PROMOTE A FREER AND OPEN MEDIA ENVIRONMENT THROUGH IMPROVING THE NORMATIVE-LEGAL-REGULATORY CONDITIONS AND SUPPORTING MEDIA INSTITUTIONS This Objective is supported by four core components, including: 6. Industry cooperation and coordination 7. Legal-regulatory environment and safety and security of journalists 8. Media literacy and community participation INTERNEWS FY2017 Annual Report CA# AID-668-A-13-00005 October 2016-September 2017 Use9. orSmall disclosure Grants of data on thisto pagelocal is subject partners to the restriction on the cover sheet of this report. 52
COMPONENT 6: INDUSTRY COOPERATION AND COORDINATION
An overview of the state of the media sector and industry coordination is provided at the beginning of this report under the section titled Media Landscape. In this section, a few of the key initiatives and events, in which Internews and i-STREAM partners directly participated are highlighted. FY17 KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
SSMSWG and thematic working group participation: November 2016 Participation in International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists: November 2016 South Sudan Media Authority consultative dialogue held: November 2016 Development of a transitional justice toolkit for civil society actors: November to December 2016 Three-day safety, security and first aid training for journalists: November 2016 Two-day media and security consultative workshop: November 2016 Production and broadcast of six PSAs on media laws and freedom of expression: October to December 2016 Talk show appearances to discuss media laws and freedom of expression: November to December 2016 I-STREAM observes World Radio Day across South Sudan: February 2017
Activity 1: Media Sector Working Group and other industry participation Despite the harsh operating environment for media houses and journalists in FY2017, the media sector in South Sudan made efforts to strengthen their relationship with national and international stakeholders to support and broaden the space for freedom of expression in South Sudan. The South Sudan Media Authority held a consultative dialogue on November 9th with media industry actors and i-STREAM partners (UJOSS, AMDISS, and NEF) in an effort to rally support for the Media Authority from the media fraternity. This was the first public event organized by the Media Authority since its Board had been constituted. On 22nd November the South Sudan Media Sector Working Group (SSMSWG) met for the first time since the unrest in July 2016 to discuss the current state of media freedom in South Sudan. AMDISS held its Annual General Assembly Meeting in March, a meeting that brings together AMDISS Board of Directors from the 25 members of AMDISS. Elections of new Board Members were conducted. Eye Radio’s Station Manager Koang Pal Chang was elected Secretary, TRC’s managing editor Chris Marol was elected deputy treasurer, and other elected members included representatives from Juba Monitor, CRN, COMNET, UJOSS, and Real Woman Magazine. At the end of June, AMDISS led a team of Juba-based radio station managers to meet with the National Communication Authority (NCA) regarding concerns regarding a substantial rise in FM frequency fees imposed by the authority. The NCA agreed that all radio stations should present their audit reports, which indicate how much revenue they are generating in order for NCA to determine a sliding scale of individual rates according to the revenue of each station. Five media organizations, including AMDISS, UJOSS, AMWISS, the Community Media Network, and the National Editors Forum informed the Minister of Justice on September 19th, 2017 about their intention to sue the South Sudan Media Authority for what they consider to be a false and illegal demand, instructing them to register with the MA as broadcasters by 21st September. The organizations are waiting for response from the government.
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Activity 2: Support to the Union of Journalists of South Sudan (UJOSS)
FY17 KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Sub-grant issued to UJOSS for monitoring and response to media rights violations and safety and security of journalists, as well as core office costs: October 2016-December 2017 UJOSS participates in radio talk show on press freedom: December 2016 UJOSS produces and broadcasts six public service announcements (PSAs) on media laws and freedom of expression through four radio stations: January-March 2017
As a sub-grantee of the i-STREAM project, UJOSS also falls under Component 9, but it is reported here.
This year, Internews support for UJOSS continued for monitoring and response to media rights violations and safety and security of journalists (reported separately under Component 7: Activity 1), as well as core office costs. UJOSS provided updates on these monitoring of media rights violations activities, with presentations at the South Sudan Human Rights Defenders Network (SSHRDN) executive committee meeting, the Media Sector Working Group (SSMSWG), and others.
UJOSS conducted several multi-day training sessions for journalists and media houses this fiscal year, supported by i-STREAM. The training sessions drew 37 participants and covered issues on safety, security and first aid training for journalists and media and security consultation to strengthen the safety and protection of journalists in light of the environment.
UJOSS also continued its campaign on raising public awareness of the media laws, the journalist code of conduct, and freedom of expression by producing six public service announcements (PSAs) on plagiarism, freedom of expression, defamation based on the South Sudan Media Laws and safety and protection of journalists. UJOSS also held production appearances on Equator Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) and Classic FM that focused on freedom of expression in the current media context.
Through its sub-grant from i-STREAM, UJOSS has continued to raise awareness of freedom of expression and the media laws through radio talk shows. A one-hour radio talk show on Classic FM took place on 30th December 2016 and focused on freedom of expression, the current state of media freedom in South Sudan, and what can be done to improve it.
Consultants from Kenya in discussion with UJOSS chairperson and the General Secretary on March 21, 2016 INTERNEWS FY2017 Annual Report CA# AID-668-A-13-00005 October 2016-September 2017 Use or disclosure of data on this page is subject to the restriction on the cover sheet of this report. 54
In addition, UJOSS, with support from Internews, completed a draft of a 2016 South Sudan Press Freedom Report. This report was to be released on World Press Freedom Day but was later rescinded due to the current environment for press.
Finally, this year UJOSS held a series of radio programs including 14 talk shows on Classic FM, City FM, Radio One, Bakhita Radio, Jonglei FM and Spirit FM. The programs discussed various media environment topics such as the role of the police in prosecuting alleged perpetrators of freedom of expression, the challenges female journalists face in the execution of the profession, the role of the access to information commissioner, journalist safety and requesting information per the Information Act
of 2013.
Activity 3: Media Service in Various Local Languages (Free Press Unlimited) This activity was completed in FY2016.
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COMPONENT 7: LEGAL-REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT AND SAFETY AND SECURITY OF JOURNALISTS
Activity 1: Monitoring, Reporting, and Response to Media Rights Violations FY17 KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Liaising with human rights defenders networks, diplomats and others for protection of journalists: October 2016-March 2017 Assessment, SOP development and security training in Ajuong Thok & Yida: October 2016 Assessment, SOP revisions and security training in Bentiu: October 2016 Assessment, SOP revisions and training in Malakal: December 2016 Risk assessment conducted and SOP revised in Aweil: February 2017 Risk assessment conducted and SOP revised in Malakal: March 2017 Hibernation, Relocation and Evacuation plan finalized: March 2017 Crisis Management Team plan completed: March 2017 Comprehensive personal security awareness training for 14 staff at Nile FM: March 2017
During FY2017, 62 media rights violations were documented. The South Sudan National Security Service (NSS) resorted to a different modality of censorship than seen in previous years, by permanently closing newspapers, by assigning NSS officers to media houses and a printing house, as well as by threatening journalists who work for USG-funded media. The Media Authority also began to play a central role in the clampdown of freedom of expression by threating and harassing journalists and media houses outside their mandate established by the 2013 Media Authority Act. Due to risk, fewer journalist are working in South Sudan covering the unfolding humanitarian crisis. As a result of the Media Authority’s changing tactics at the end of the fiscal year, violations against journalists and media houses became increasingly difficult to track. Internews in cooperation with UJOSS, tracked media rights violations (see figure above) through Q3, but faced difficulties in Q4 with the increasing pressure on UJOSS especially. In FY2017, the Media Authority, an “independent body” established by the 2013 Media Authority Act (MAA) has continuously threatened journalists and media houses by denied visas to foreign correspondents on the basis of articles they have written about South Sudan, summoning media organizations over press releases and statements, denying access for journalists to cover events, issuing warnings to all media houses and journalists on the subject of hate speech, and requesting all media organizations and journalists to register with them attached with a burdensome annual fee. Some of the guiding principles which are outlined in the Media Authority Act 2013 incorporate principles of freedom of expression and access to information which are not only enshrined in the bill of rights of 2011 South Sudan Transitional Constitution, but also in the 2013 Media Authority Act, stating, “the Media Authority shall ensure that media development and press freedoms in South Sudan are consistent with constitutional and international guarantees of freedom of expression and shall promote public interest in the media sector” (Section 19.1 MAA). On 6th September 2017, the Media Authority issued a public notice listing all broadcasters, publishers, printing houses, media advocacy groups and associations, who operate under South Sudan law. According to section 35 (3) and (4), the Media Authority requested all the organizations listed to register with the MA by 21st September 2017, and that failure to comply with this order would result in de-registration and fines in accordance with Section 57 (6) and (7). A lawyer has filed a statutory notice
INTERNEWS FY2017 Annual Report CA# AID-668-A-13-00005 October 2016-September 2017 Use or disclosure of data on this page is subject to the restriction on the cover sheet of this report. 56 of the intention to sue the Media Authority on behalf of 5 media organizations (AMDISS, UJOSS, AMWISS, NEF and ComMNeTSS), for acting outside its legal mandate. Here are the notable cases from FY2017: The South Sudanese Government freed the George Livio, a Public Information Officer with UNMISS after 2 ½ years without charge. George Livio, a son of the former Mayor of Wau, was arrested after being recorded on a cell phone, distributing controversial political material. Eye Radio was shut down by government authorities on 11th November following criticism for airing of a news clip from a press conference held by Riek Machar a month prior. In the clip Riek said, "we did not see that there is an initiative from the region or the United Nations or the African Union to rescue the agreement. From our side the agreement has collapsed, or part of the government of national unity has collapsed since July events. We do not want violence.” Eye Radio went back on air on November 19th, 2016 informing the public that matters concerning the recent shutdown of the station had been discussed and amicably resolved. The offices of Al Jazeera were closed for a report critical of the government. South Sudan's government has banned Al Jazeera English staff from working in the country. The government's media authority decided on 1 May to suspend the activities of the Al-Jazeera English bureau in Juba until further notice. The state government in Rumbek detained Mawut Gabriel, a UNMISS Public Information Officer, for escorting UNMISS to a conflict area. Kondial FM received a threat from a SPLA-iO2 spokesman, demanding that the station should record and broadcast their initiative to mobilize and reintegrate SPLA-IO 2 forces in the national army, a demand Internews rejected. Internews Security Director and HIS worked together to carefully address the matter in light of the existing MoU between Internews and the State Government. The Media Authority has summoned the Union of Journalists of South Sudan (UJOSS) to clarify an article published in the Juba Monitor on June 27th, originally written by Sam Mednick for the Associated Press. In the article, UJOSS is quoted as a source for data related to individual press freedom violations. Director General for Information and Media Compliance, Spana A. Abuyi, referred to a complaint lodged with the Media Authority without identifying the complainant. South Sudan Minister of Information, Michael Makeui Lueth, threatened to shut down Eye Radio when he was requested by Eye Radio journalist, Lasuba Memo, to respond to the decision of his office to sack Adil Faris, the director of South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC). Adil Faris was formerly detained by national security officials over his failure to broadcast “live” President Kiir’s speech on the commemoration of South Sudan’s 6th Independence Day on national television. Michael Makeui stated that it was an administrative issue and not newsworthy for TV or radio. Eye Radio’s station manager noted that the situation was not handled well and resolved to recommend specific journalists to handle certain officials. Activity 2: Training of Media Lawyers This activity was completed at the end of FY2016.
Activity 3: Annenberg-Oxford Global Media Fellows (Annenberg) This activity was completed at the end of FY2016.
Activity 4: Support to Media Authority, Licensing and Media Regulation (Albany and stakeholders) This activity was completed at the end of FY2016.
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COMPONENT 8: MEDIA LITERACY AND COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION
Activity 1: Communications Training: Public and private sector media and communications course This activity was eliminated at the end of FY2016.
Activity 2: Campaigns: Public Outreach, Education and Engagement
FY17 KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
HIS Weekly Bulletins: October 2016 to September 2017 Solar Power for Radio Stations Learning Collection completed and published: November 2016 Publication of the internal Internews In Focus bi-monthly staff newsletter: December 2016- September 2017 World Radio Day celebrated: February 2017 HIS Boda Boda Talk Talk Learning Module published: February 2017 HIS Radio Distribution Learning Module finalized: March 2017 Trainers resources e-library finalized, updated and maintained: January-March 2017
Internews-supported community radio stations, humanitarian information service (HIS) projects, i- STREAM partners, and media stakeholders observed World Radio Day under the UNESCO theme “Radio is You!” across South Sudan on 13th February 2017. Community radio stations and HIS projects across the country featured special broadcasts dedicated to this theme with airtime for the listeners and audience interaction as a focus throughout the day and week.
An official event in Juba was broadcast live on Eye Radio, South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC), and other local FM stations. The highlight of the event was audience engagement policies - to ensure that all voices are heard in line with this year’s theme “Radio is you”. The chairperson of Association of Media Development in South Sudan (AMDISS), Mr. Alfred Taban called on radio stations to always tell the truth, balance their stories and be accurate with the information. Mr. Taban stressed that “Radio stations have a big role to play to allow real democracy to take root in South Sudan, it can only be done through dialogues and collecting views of the citizens.” The Internews chief of party also shared remarks at the event alongside numerous representatives of the media sector and government officials.
Since World Radio Day coincides with Black History Month, Eye Radio also partnered with the US Embassy to quiz its listeners on one trivia question a day for seven days for a chance to win prizes. More information about this activity can be found under Component 1: Activity 5.
Internews’ newest station, Jamjang FM, was launched on World Radio Day in the Ajoung Thok refugee camp (see Objective 3). TRC stations and HIS project sites also engaged heavily in their respective communities and they are reported in their respective sections. Internews co-sponsored, organized, and participated in these events and campaigns.
Internews supported stations and i-STREAM projects and partners across South Sudan observed World Press Freedom Day (WPFD), which took place on May 3rd. The Association for Media Development (AMDISS) in collaboration with the Union of Journalists in South Sudan (UJOSS), and some members of civil society organizations and local media houses with support from UNESCO, Internews and NPA
INTERNEWS FY2017 Annual Report CA# AID-668-A-13-00005 October 2016-September 2017 Use or disclosure of data on this page is subject to the restriction on the cover sheet of this report. 58 organized activities with the theme of this year’s observation, “The Media’s Role in Advancing Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies.”
Civil society leaders, media sector leaders, and government officials participated. Hundreds turned up for the events. i-STREAM partner AMDISS chaired the events including the 1st National Conference to Counter Hate Speech for Peace in South Sudan and a national event to mark World Press Freedom Day.
To celebrate the WPFD, Eye Radio broadcast only content related to media freedom on the day. TRC stations and HIS project sites also engaged heavily in their respective communities. Internews co- sponsored, organized, and participated in these events and campaigns.
Activity 3: Media Initiatives: Innovation and Experimentation This activity was concluded at the end of FY2016.
Activity 4: Self-Expression Through Media – Teaching Storytelling This activity was completed at the end of FY2016.
Activity 5: Knowledge Sharing: Facilitating learning across projects, departments, sector i-STREAM propels longer-term media and technology solutions through knowledge sharing. The Internews monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning (MERL) department achieves this through the facilitation of learning across teams, departments, partners and the sector, sharing best practices and ensuring everyone understands and utilizes the research, data, project outcomes, feedback and impact that i-STREAM fosters. Throughout FY2017, the MERL department, in collaboration with technical experts, engaged in a number of initiatives to collect data, measure progress, share knowledge, and encourage collaboration. Publications referenced below are included as attachments. Organizational initiatives increased learning, collaboration and boosted morale across departments and staff such as the continued distribution of the bi-monthly internal Internews IN- Focus newsletter, which provides updates about Internews activities across South Sudan; the development of the trainers’ resources e-library; the publication of the Internews Humanitarian Information Services (HIS) Learning Collection which communicates key lessons, best practices, and programmatic methodologies used by Internews’ humanitarian teams around the world; and the creation of informational brochures for The Radio Community and HIS. The Boda Boda Talk Talk Module, Listening Groups Module, and Radio Distribution Module have all been disseminated to partners and the wider humanitarian and development communities. Sector or industry initiatives for sharing information outside of the organization and to promote best practices included: publishing a solar power case study featuring information about best practices for establishing a self-sufficient radio station, which was launched at TechCon, a UK radio industry conference; updating and creating broadcast coverage area maps for Internews and Eye Radio; and circulating research on access to media and information needs among Sudanese refugees in Unity state.
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COMPONENT 9: SMALL GRANTS TO LOCAL PARTNERS
Activity 1: Selection of Partners
FY17 KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Seven different radio drama groups produce peace-themed dramas for VOF: October- December 2016 New VOF listening group and radio club formed at Father Leopoldo Anwar College: October-December 2016 Mobile Video Workshop conducted by JFL: November 2016 Second screening of Juba Film Festival winning films: November 2016 Implementation of five small grant partner activities (UJOSS, AMDISS, Voice of Freedom - Magwi, Juba Film Limited, AIRS): October 2016-September 2017 USAID approval of new small grant partner AIRS: March 2017 Targeted capacity building for small sub-grant partners – Abyei Information and Radio Service: September 2016-ongoing
Internews continued to support the three selected partners (AMDISS, UJOSS, and VOF). In addition, Abyei Information and Radio Service (AIRS) was approved by USAID in the second quarter of FY2017 and began implementation in June 2017.
I-STREAM Small Grant Recipients in FY2017 Name of partner Location Type Status Abyei Information and Radio Service (AIRS) Agok, Abyei CSO Active AMDISS Juba, CE Association Active Juba Film Limited Juba, CE CSO Active UJOSS Juba, CE Association Active Voice of Freedom FM Magwi, EE Radio station Active
Activity 2: Capacity Building of Partners Following July 2016, staff continued to support and build capacity of sub-grantees remotely from Kampala, Nairobi and USA. During this period, Internews held ten meetings with sub-grantees, many of whom also evacuated to Kampala, to discuss operational challenges and limit disruptions in programming. The sub-grants team continued to build the capacity of the Abyei Information Access team throughout the year in order to transition them to an independent local media organization called the “Abyei Information and Radio Service” or AIRS. The sub-grants team supported AIRS’ in the registration process, as well as with building and training the team on foundational organizational processes, policies and forms. AIRS is now fully-operational and began implementation as an i-STREAM small sub-grantee in June 2017.
Activity 3: Project Implementation and Monitoring
Association for Media Development in South Sudan (AMDISS)
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The i-STREAM sub-grant for AMDISS is previously reported under Component 3 under the Media Development Institute (MDI).
In addition to support for MDI, AMDISS approached Internews about its concerns with regards to the security of its assets, particularly items that aide the training of journalists such as radio equipment, computers, recorders, cameras, etc. following the incidences of robbery and theft that took place at the office in the months of October and November 2016 respectively.
Juba Film Limited (JFL) The first ever Juba Film Festival was made possible by i-STREAM support, and provided a platform for South Sudanese filmmakers to express themselves through this critical art form. JFL held a Youth Video Mobile workshop in Juba in November, selecting 22 students, including 14 women and three youth from each of the secondary schools in Juba. The students spent a week learning the basics of script writing, storytelling, sound, editing and directing using smart phones as cameras. Four short videos were produced during the workshop, and the students were covered by CCTV. To sustain the momentum from the first annual Juba Film Festival, JFL held another public screening on 3rd December at Nyakuron Culture Center, showing all of the winning 2016 films. More than 1,000 people attended the five-hour screening; many were seeing the films for the first time. The second Juba Film Festival was organized from 4-8th September 2017. With nearly 15,000 people attending the various screenings over a period of five days, the film festival served to encourage and support South Sudanese filmmakers to tell indigenous stories and to show the world positive stories that bring communities together. Juba Films Limited had a strategy planning session with a range of funders including Internews’ Deputy Chief of Party to discuss the way forward for the 2018 Juba Film Festival. The 2018 Festival will be held in June 2018, and further engage South Sudanese from beyond Juba by organizing state-level rounds. . Union of Journalists of South Sudan (UJOSS) The i-STREAM sub-grant for UJOSS is previously reported under Component 6. Voice of Freedom FM/Magwi Radio i-STREAM continued to support Voice of Freedom FM, which provides local language news and programming in Eastern Equatoria. VOF continues to broadcast up to 14 hours a day – mostly running on sustainable solar power. Insecurity, health, and hunger were common themes of programs on VOF FM. Programming is community driven, with an emphasis on discussion and participation. VOF flagship programs include: Wake Up Magwi!, Poverty Eradication Program, Youth in Focus, Our Community, Community Challenges, Sports Update, and Daily News. In addition, VOF conducted frequent visits to the radio listenership clubs and sponsored community outreach events. VOF continued to support seven different radio drama groups to record and broadcast peace- themed dramas. These different drama groups, which perform for the local community, include members from three churches, two women’s groups, one traditional Acholi artisan’s group, and one VOF listeners club. With the help of these local drama groups, seven episodes of radio drama were produced and broadcast on a variety of common themes of conflict among South Sudanese. In each of the episodes, the community members use dialogue to resolve each conflict and promote peaceful coexistence amongst South Sudanese. VOF also engaged in promoting peace through peace spot messages that were scripted and voiced as PSAs. Local residents also provided vox pops collected by VOF journalists to serve as peace messages. Magwi County experienced considerable insecurity resulting in over 20,000 persons leaving the area into for the refugee camp in Lamwo district in Uganda. On the topic of peace and insecurity, VOF Youth in Focus program covered current efforts by local youth to control criminal (robberies and killing) along all roads in Magwi and Ayaci County. Youth from these counties have agreed to cooperate with county
INTERNEWS FY2017 Annual Report CA# AID-668-A-13-00005 October 2016-September 2017 Use or disclosure of data on this page is subject to the restriction on the cover sheet of this report. 61 authorities and community leaders in order to provide local security and protection. This was in response to the killing of innocent civilians, looting and robberies along the road in these counties. In addition, VOF continued to engage listeners groups to generate ideas for content and be responsive to audiences. The VOF team conducted several field meetings with listener groups to discuss linkages and coordination through their leaders in different payams. A new listeners group was formed at Father Leopoldo Anwar College, one of the community schools located in Magwi. The listeners group is also a radio club. VOF has already engaged the club members and will be supporting the development of a horticultural school garden based on their interests. The student club members have agreed to develop one news story a week and organizes inter-school debates on topics interesting to them such as local agriculture, which will be broadcast on VOF.
Abyei Information and Radio Service (AIRS) Leadership of i-STREAM’s newest sub-grantee the Abyei Information and Radio Service (AIRS) paid a visit to Aweil to meet with The Radio Community’s Akol Yam FM team. The radio station is a key partner of AIRS as they broadcast the Abyei team’s weekly programs Abyei Today and Abyei This Weekend. Abyei Information and Radio Service (AIRS) helped in a successful blood donor campaign for the MSF hospital in Agok on Saturday 29th July 2017 by disseminating intensive announcements. MSF wanted to store a stock of blood to meet high need for blood transfusion due to malaria related anemia, maternity ward and surgery department. Volunteers and medical staff acknowledged the role of radio in disseminating information. In late August 2017, the Ministry of Education made a decision to stop the operations of new civil society organization Abyei Information and Radio Service (AIRS), which led AIRS to obtain an operations certificate from the Media Authority and resume activities.
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OBJECTIVE THREE: MORE EFFECTIVE SOUTH SUDANESE MEDIA CAPACITIES TO RAISE THE QUALITY, QUANTITY AND SELF- SUSTAINABILITY OF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATIONS BY THE SOUTH SUDANESE MEDIA ACROSS DEMOCRACY- BUILDING, PEACE, ECONOMIC GROWTH,
SOCIAL, HEALTH AND OTHER KEY ISSUES
This objective is supported by three core components: 10. Humanitarian Assistance 11. Priority Thematic Areas 12. Rapid Response Fund
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COMPONENT 10: HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE
Overview During FY2017 the Humanitarian Information Service (HIS) department expanded their reach to additional IDPs and refugees by opening additional FM community radio stations. They strengthened humanitarian information programming to be more responsive to the needs of the community, ensured independent and impartial programming and addressed the growing and changing needs of IDPs and refugees in South Sudan. HIS also worked to increase the visibility of the Communications with Communities (CwC) work in South Sudan by embedding it into national humanitarian frameworks, policies, and implementation mechanisms. The department worked very closely with the UN clusters (mainly the CCCM cluster) in the gathering, analysis and development of common feedback mechanisms. They delivered them to humanitarian organizations in order to respond to the growing and changing needs of IDPs in PoCs and collective centers. Two new radio stations launched – Kondial 97.2 FM in Bentiu PoC and Jamjnag 89.4 FM in Ajuong Thok. Based on the request of CCCM cluster and other agencies in Wau, Internews opened a project in Wau PoCs and collective centers, partnering with Catholic Radio Network/Voice of Hope FM. The Internews chief of party, the humanitarian director, and humanitarian project managers worked closely with the ICWG, the cluster system and individual humanitarian organizations at national and state levels to strengthen the CwC advocacy strategy of humanitarian organizations and build their capacity to respond to the needs of IDPs in the PoCs. At the national level, Internews promoted the common feedback mechanism, Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) and conducted the annual community feedback report as part of the Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO) and Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for South Sudan, presenting results to UNOCHA, ICWG and other actors. This work ensured that CwC was embedded into crucial humanitarian policy frameworks and strategic documents of the humanitarian response used to guide the implementation of programs on the ground.
Kondial FM Staff are Trained to use New Studio Equipment
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Activity 1: Produce innovative communications channels and media solutions to serve the information needs of people in humanitarian crisis
FY17 KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
In FY2017, humanitarian information service (HIS) radio stations produced a total of 2,454 news stories and 1,040 pre-recorded programs and live radio across the network. Internews produced a total of 265 program episodes through the Boda Boda Talk Talk service or through BBTT-style programming called Kalaam fil Bayt (Talks at Home). BBTT/HIS projects collaborated with partners to produce and broadcast 408 PSAs. Procurement of the “radio-in-a-box” studio for Ajuong Thok: October 2016 BBTT attends weekly humanitarian coordination meetings: October 2016-September 2017 Radio engineer trains five journalists and trainer on studio management and broadcast techniques for Jamjang FM: January 2017 Jamjang 89.4 FM launches on World Radio Day in Ajoung Thok refugee camp: February 2017 HIS project manager travels to Nile FM to revitalize partnerships and train team: March 2017 Studio installation completed for Kondial FM launch in Benitu PoC: January 2017 Kondial FM/BBTT journalists completed a three-month, extensive broadcast training by Internews journalism trainer: February 2017 Internews secures additional funding for UN House BBTT and Jamjang FM: March 2017 Publication of the ‘With Refugees’ booklet and audience survey of refugees: August 2017
In FY2017, i-STREAM supported Humanitarian Information Services (HIS) at UN Protection of Civilian (PoC) sites and towns/settlements for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and Sudanese refugees potentially reaching a population of approximately 512,1796 cross South Sudan including: Humanitarian radio stations: o Jamjang FM7: Ajuong Thok, Yida and Pamir towns/settlements in Unity state o Nile FM: Malakal PoC, Malakal town, and Wau Shilluk in Upper Nile state o Kondial FM: Bentiu PoC in Unity State o Mingkaman FM8: Mingkaman settlement, Awerial county, Lakes state Boda Boda Talk Talk (BBTT): o UN House PoCs 1 and 3 in Juba, Central Equatoria o Bentiu PoC in Unity state o Bor PoC
In FY2017, humanitarian radio stations produced a total of 2,454 news stories. News stories feature both local and international news of the day and usually vary from 30 seconds to a few minutes of airtime. The stories were produced in Ajuong Thok, Unity state, Bentiu, Unity state and Malakal, Upper Nile state; and broadcast through the respective community radio stations. The top three categories of stories during FY2017 include health (22%), humanitarian (22%), and education (11%). o Jamjang FM produced a total of 589 news stories. The stories were produced in Ajuong Thok refugee camp, Unity State. o Kondial FM produced a total of 297 news stories. The stories were produced in Bentiu PoC, Unity State. o Nile FM produced a total of 1,568 news stories. The stories were produced in Malakal, Upper Nile State.
6Yida/Ajoung Thok figures are from UNHCR (http://data.unhcr.org/SouthSudan/region.php?id=26&country=251). All other population data is September 2017 figures from IOM. Bor PoC project closed in March 2017. 7 HIS’ newest radio station launched in February 2017. Although Jamjang FM is funded mostly by BPRM and is operated by our Humanitarian Information Service (HIS) department, we report on it here due to cost-share with i-STREAM. 8 Operated by TRC, Mingkaman FM is a humanitarian and community radio station, which is reported under Component 2: The Radio Community. INTERNEWS FY2017 Annual Report CA# AID-668-A-13-00005 October 2016-September 2017 Use or disclosure of data on this page is subject to the restriction on the cover sheet of this report. 65
FY2017 HIS News Content Agriculture Other 5% Business & Economy 6% 4% Marginalized Groups Health (Elderly, Disabled, 22% Women, Girls) 7% Youth 5% Humanitarian Peace Issues 7% 22%
Security & Governance Education 11% 11%
In addition to news stories, humanitarian radio stations also produced and broadcast 1,040 pre- recorded programs and live radio across the network, which included talk shows, featured guests, call- ins, music and entertainment, and more. Programs vary in length from 10 minutes to 2 or more hours. The breakdown of programs by station and most heavily featured topics are: health (22%), humanitarian issues (22%), education (11%) and security & governance (11%). Other programs covered topics ranging from security issues to women’s empowerment. In FY2017, stations produced: o Jamjang FM produced a total of 172 programs. The programs were produced in Ajuong Thok, Unity State. o Kondial FM produced a total of 150 programs. The programs were produced in Bentiu, Unity State. o Nile FM produced a total of 718 programs. The programs were produced in Malakal, Upper Nile State. Managed by the Internews humanitarian department, Jamjang FM, Kondial FM, Nile FM stations serve the population needs of refugees and IDPs. All stations benefitted from an on-site project manager and on-site journalism trainer based in each location throughout the fiscal year. Community radio stations also worked with humanitarian and other local partners to produce and broadcast 182 new public service announcements. The majority of these PSAs focused on humanitarian (36%) and health (26%) and human interest (10%) messages. HIS stations worked with more than 50 organizations to produce these PSAs including Save the Children, National Ministry of Health, International Medical Corps, Danish Refugee Council, and more. The Internews project manager and journalism trainer also supported the teams to produce and air both programs and PSAs on services delivered by humanitarian agencies, peace, security, health, social, cultural and camp management and coordination issues. Both helped the team to collect community feedback from IDPs and report it to humanitarian agencies to enhance accountability mechanisms. Jamjang FM Jamjang FM took months of preparation and planning. The mast was installed successfully and the FM radio frequency license was secured from GOSS in Q1. The station logo was developed with thorough consultation of the community and the advisory board. The printing of branding materials including stickers, T-shirts was completed. In January 2017, an Internews consultant radio engineer completed studio installation and tested the broadcast transmission signal. Listeners as far as Yida and the Nuba
INTERNEWS FY2017 Annual Report CA# AID-668-A-13-00005 October 2016-September 2017 Use or disclosure of data on this page is subject to the restriction on the cover sheet of this report. 66 mountains in Sudan confirmed that they are able to hear the broadcasts. In terms of capacity building, the radio engineer trained the Internews journalism trainer and five journalists on studio management and broadcast techniques. The Internews humanitarian director traveled to Jamjang FM to support the launch and held numerous meetings with UNHCR, AHA, Samaritans’ Purses, LWF, AAHI-I, IRC and DRC regarding the implementation and challenges of the project. He also trained the team of journalists on the Internews method of establishing listening groups and the process of collecting feedback from communities and reporting back to humanitarian agencies. In the first quarter, the Internews journalism trainer coached trainee journalists on program preparation to develop their program production skills, and worked with them on how to write program scripts. Trainee journalists also learned how to edit and compile radio magazine programs on multi-track audio production and editing using Adobe Audition 3.0 software. The use of multi-track, non-destructive editing, eases the process and allows for more effective training by ensuring tracks are well organized and clear. Jamjang FM radio journalist trainees each proposed 12 topics to be produced in anticipation of the launch of the station. Trainees drafted program promos and signature tunes in preparation for later production. Eight of the 11 radio journalism trainees were selected to become community correspondents and information officers, receiving personal service contracts. The trainees who were not successful received training completion certificates. While waiting for Jamjang FM to be constructed and to go on air, the team continued to produce BBTT- style programs, shared with the community through speakers. Localized, relevant content was generated through community feedback and humanitarian partnerships. The Yida/Ajoung Thok project (which is mostly funded through the US Bureau of Refugees, Population and Migration) achieved an important milestone with the launch of the community radio station Jamjang 89.4 FM in Q2. The launch ceremony was observed on World Radio Day, which was a celebration of the importance of radio, the start of official broadcast, humanitarian partnership, and community engagement in the programming of the new station. Internews established a local committee to organize the radio launch event. Over 300 refugees from the Nuba Mountains, and representatives from the host community, humanitarian agencies, and government attended the official launch ceremony. The launch of the station marked a breakthrough in addressing the information needs of the refugees and host populations of Ajoung Thok, Yida, and Pamir. Until recently, they had no access to radio, television, internet, or telephone networks. Information was predominantly received via word of mouth, especially through traders. A success story featuring the launch is included as an attachment to this report. In terms of partnerships, the Internews humanitarian liaison officer participated in the UNHCR Annual Participatory Assessment on 18th November. The journalism trainer also participated in the interagency camp coordination meetings and partners shared positive feedback on the role of Internews in disseminating critical information to refugees and host communities. As an example, upon request, Internews produced programs on the Cholera Epidemic Preparedness and Response Plan to ensure early detection, prompt and effective response to a possible cholera outbreak. Internews also met with humanitarian partners to collect feedback on the Jamjang FM broadcast schedule and generate ideas for critical PSA content. Among others, issues of peaceful coexistence, improving the relations between the host and refugee communities, and other topics aimed at reducing tensions and conflicts were agreed as thematic content areas. Internews was awarded an additional year of funding from the US State Department’s Bureau for Population, Refugees, and Migration (BPRM) for this project. Although this project site is mainly funded by BPRM, costs are shared with i-STREAM as the project operates under the humanitarian information service department funded by USAID. As part of a U.S. State Department BPRM funded project, HIS finalized a report titled “Information Needs and Access to Media among Sudanese Refugees.” The report, which is included as an attachment,
INTERNEWS FY2017 Annual Report CA# AID-668-A-13-00005 October 2016-September 2017 Use or disclosure of data on this page is subject to the restriction on the cover sheet of this report. 67 summarizes findings from an Internews survey of 220 respondents from the refugee and host population in northern Unity State and ten humanitarian organizations in the area. They answered a series of questions about their information needs and access to various media, including targeted questions regarding the impact of HIS programming through the new humanitarian radio station Jamjang FM. The key findings strongly affirm that Jamjang FM, as well as acommunity radio stations and the humanitarian information service more generally, is perceived to be critical by both refugees and humanitarians to the broader refugee response: Three out of four refugees that listen to the station agree that Jamjang FM provides a critical service to the refugee community. In parallel, all six humanitarian organizations that have collaborated with the station agree that Jamjang FM has directly improved their programming. Differences in perceptions between the refugee community and humanitarian organizations regarding information needs persist, which point to need for greater emphasis on better communication practice: While refugees (33%) most commonly express a need for local news, humanitarians (50%) believe that the top topic of interest is “how to get food.” Jamjang FM celebrated World Refugee Day in June by producing and broadcasting nine feature stories about refugees, which was also transcribed in a booklet titled "#WithRefugees". The stories describe how the Commission for Refugee Affairs supports refugees, highlighted the case of a married couple coming from both host and refugee communities who talked about their different cultures. A police officer described their role in protecting refugees, and a segment illustrated the positive impact of refugees on the lives of host communities. This booklet is included as an attachment to this report. Nile FM In Malakal, fighting between SPLA and SPLA-iO continued to be a challenge to the Nile FM team. Heavy mortars and shelling affected civilian populations and disrupted humanitarian operations in Malakal town, Wau Shilluk, Kaka, Kodok and Fashoda. There is an increased number of IDPs leaving the PoC and heading north. The main reasons for their departure are frustrations by the continued conflict.
The PoC was also disturbed by the ongoing attacks and lack of information from the western side of the Nile River. Nile FM tried to investigate and broadcast programs aimed at reducing tensions, however, this has been difficult due to the complicated nature of the conflict, mainly access to the river.
Due to insecurity, staff movements were restricted by UN authorities at times. The 2nd anniversary celebration of Nile FM was postponed as movement restrictions to the PoC were in place. At one point, the Nile FM team was unable to conduct regular news and program productions. However, peace messages from community leaders, religious leaders, community messages, peace-themed music continued to be broadcast.
Tensions remained high throughout the fiscal year, inside and outside the Malakal PoC. Youth continued to protest against the deputy chairman of the Peace and Security Council. In addition, ongoing rumors of attack from Shilluk army were reported with some factions of the youth and Shilluk communities have shown resentment towards all actions of UNMISS. However, the Nile FM team persevered, continuing to produce programs and focus on peace and reconciliation activities. Nile FM continued to engage the community and other actors in live radio discussions. Rumors continued to rise in the PoC and Nile FM broadcasted live discussions aimed at reducing tensions in and around the PoC.
Examples of community feedback-informed programming include:
Many residents shared that they have different food preferences than what is being distributed, following the May food distribution by WFP and World Vision. A group of women from the PoC said, "We, women, are not happy about the distribution of red sorghum. WFP is not being fair." Nile FM followed up the story and invited both residents and humanitarians to share their take on the issue. World Vision explained that the distributed food is not expired and is safe to eat. They also added that they are making their best efforts to provide good quality food to PoC residents.
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After receiving community concerns that the community watch group was not carrying out their duties properly in the Malakal PoC, Nile FM gathered the views of the community and leaders. The leadership and other agencies organized a capacity-building session for the community watch group, which was also covered by Nile FM. The station continues to report back to the community on the progress of the community watch group.
In keeping with its commitment to locally relevant issues, a content design workshop was conducted for Nile FM staff by the Internews journalism trainer at the beginning of April. The objective of the training was to equip correspondents on the steps of content development for various format programs. The major topics covered were topic selection, content development steps, identifying potential participants in the program and designing interview questions. The team immediately started using the newly acquired skills to develop content for upcoming programs.
Internews continued working with VISTAS to erect the new 42-meter mast in Malakal. Discussions were held with the VISTAS team leader in Juba and Malakal PoC regarding the installation of solar panels for the Nile FM studio. VISTAS processed the procurement and shipment of materials to Malakal in August 2017 and resumed the installation of the solar panels.
The project manager travelled to Malakal for the first time after the July 2016 incident to continue the partnership with humanitarian organizations and community leaders. He has reactivated and restructured listening groups, revised/updated the broadcast schedule, trained the Nile FM team on CwC and content design so that each correspondent is assigned a focus or cluster area.
Ahead of the high profile visits from UNMISS and UNOCHA senior officials to Malakal PoC and town, the Internews journalism trainer coached the Nile FM journalists on how to provide special coverage. Nile FM was additionally given special recognition by UNOCHA for the CwC support it has provided to humanitarians and the IDPs in the PoC and town.
Following the Internews journalism trainer’s mentorship sessions on audience focused scripting, topical production and audience interactivity, the Nile FM team was able to put their skills into practice in a program focused on trauma, humanitarian services to help populations cope and the audience’s reactions: Years of war and displacement have caused millions of South Sudanese to experience unimaginable trauma. Malakal PoC residents are no different. Clowns without Borders travelled across PoCs in South Sudan doing shows helping affected populations cope. Nile FM followed and covered the story with VISTAS with the audience reflecting on the importance of such performances and how they can be replicated in schools within the PoC.
As Nile FM transitions to more live programming, the on-site journalism trainer worked with both the station editor and correspondents to ensure that the appropriate information is being reported during live reporting from event locations. The trainer specifically mentored the station editor on how to follow up with reporters in the field by phone to ensure they present the right information and balance especially in light of recent tensions. For the reporters, the trainer worked with them on how to report live from the field, how to describe the event in terms of number of people attending and high profile personalities, how to present what are they saying and ensuring women representation among others.
Three editors were trained in live programming including the importance of conducting research on a topic first and then deciding upon a suitable guest to speak on the topic (not the reverse). In addition, the journalism trainer mentored on how to conduct interviews including follow up questions to make sure that a point is fully explained.
Finally, Malakal PoC residents have diverse preferences in music: while the majority of listeners prefer Sudanese Arabic music, others would like to hear music in the Juba Arabic dialect by South Sudanese, and some would like to hear Congolese music. In order to cater to this variety of preferences, Nile FM
INTERNEWS FY2017 Annual Report CA# AID-668-A-13-00005 October 2016-September 2017 Use or disclosure of data on this page is subject to the restriction on the cover sheet of this report. 69 presenters worked on collecting new songs this year and are now able to satisfy listeners in the PoC.
Kondial FM Early in the fiscal year, Kondial FM was taken off air by Northern Leich state officials, when they demanded that Internews rehabilitate Bentiu FM as a precondition. After consecutive and extensive meetings between Internews officials, the state governor, and information minister, the state finally granted a written permission for Kondial FM to go on air.
After months of delays due to state government restrictions, Kondial FM in Bentiu PoC began broadcasting and celebrated its official launch at special community events in Bentiu town and Bentiu PoC. On May 12th, an estimated 300 people witnessed the launch among Northern Liech state administration officials. South Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (SSRRC) representative Mr. Gatkuoth mentioned that "Kondial FM belongs to the whole of Bentiu and we have to collectively use it to promote peace." On 13th May, Kondial FM held a second launch event inside the Bentiu PoC and was attended by approximately 500 PoC residents and representatives of humanitarian organizations. A community leader opened the program highlighting the significance of the station to the community: “As the name indicates, Kondial [which means “togetherness” in Nuer] will be a tool to bring us together, provide us in the PoC and outside with information we need.” Representatives from the humanitarian sector noted the importance of Kondial to disseminate critical information and facilitate management and coordination in the PoC. UNHCR representative Chuong Tet said, "Kondial is brought to us by Internews. Let's not use it to make hate speeches. Let us use it to promote peace. Kondial will provide us with important information.” In keeping with its commitment to locally relevant issues and in the delay to start radio operations, the Internews journalism trainer conducted training sessions for community correspondents. The main objective of the trainings was to equip them with necessary skills to become broadcast journalists. A total of ten days were spent on the first phase of the training on news writing, presentation and broadcasting. A content design workshop was also conducted for Kondial FM staff by the Internews journalism trainer at the beginning of April 2017. The objective of the training was to equip correspondents on the steps of content development for various format programs. The major topics covered were topic selection, content development steps, identifying potential participants in the program and designing interview questions. The team immediately started using the newly acquired skills to develop content for upcoming programs. In June 2017, the Internews journalism trainer conducted a second phase of training sessions for community correspondents. The main objective of the one-week training was to equip community correspondents with skills on generating story ideas, covering and investigating news stories, interviewing sources, writing copy-clip stories and presentation tips. Examples of two-way communication between the community and humanitarians since launch include: After PoC residents complained about the lack of bathing shelters, Kondial FM helped mobilize shelter assistance by engaging the WASH cluster agencies including IOM, Mercy Corps, and Concern. At total of 150 bathing shelters were put up by these agencies to step-up sanitation and hygiene efforts in the POC. Kondial FM also produced public service announcements (PSAs) when cholera was declared in the POC in mid-June. After humanitarian agencies made clear the need for blood donation for patients in the PoC, Kondial FM raised awareness about the issue on the air and over a period of ten days, a total 17 people donated blood. The health coordinator was so impressed with the turnout immediately following the radio coverage that he paid a courtesy call to the station to Kondial FM to state his appreciation.
1.1 Continued support of Boda Boda Talk Talk Programs
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Internews produced a total of 265 program episodes through the Boda Boda Talk Talk (BBTT) service or through BBTT-style programming called Kalaam fil Bayt (Talks at Home). The top categories of BBTT humanitarian programs in FY2017 were: health (28%), humanitarian (22%), and security (8%). In Bentiu PoC, Unity state, 80 program episodes were produced and broadcast. In Bor PoC, Jonglei state, 51 program episodes were produced and broadcast. In UN House PoC and Central Equatoria state, 103 program episodes were produced and broadcast. At Ajoung Thok, a total of 30 program episodes were produced and broadcasted.
FY2017 BBTT Program Content
Youth Business & 5% Economy Other 8% 4% Health Peace 28% 5% Marginalized Groups (Elderly, Disabled, Women, Girls) Humanitarian 10% 21% Education 7% Security & Governance 12%
BBTT and HIS projects worked with humanitarian and other local partners to produce and broadcast 408 new public service announcements in FY2017. The vast majority of these PSAs focused on humanitarian (133) and health (127) topics. BBTT/HIS projects worked with more than 50 organizations to produce these PSAs including Save the Children, National Ministry of Health, International Medical Corps, Danish Refugee Council, and more. Much of the mentoring for BBTT staff focuses on specific issues relating to the programs produced each week. Much of this support is for the production team, which includes review of scripts, discussions on program ideas and angles as well as providing guidance on which PSAs and content to include. One of the major program campaigns that occurred in FY2017 was the 16 Days Activism of campaign against gender-based violence (GBV) from 25th November to 10th December. The Humanitarian project manager (HPM) worked with the different teams to focus on producing and airing programs and PSAs focusing on GBV. The HPM and humanitarian journalism trainer (HJT) also supported the teams to produce and air programs on services delivered by humanitarian agencies, peace, security, health, social, cultural and camp management and coordination issues. Both helped the team to collect community feedbacks from IDPs and reported it to Humanitarian agencies to enhance the humanitarian accountability mechanisms to affected communities. More information about this coverage is provided under Component 11: Priority Thematic Areas. In a major accomplishment across the sites, the HJT worked with BBTT producers to demonstrate how PSAs could be a simple background profile on a humanitarian organization operating in the PoC. By using information from various websites, the journalism trainer showed the producers that PSAs do not have to be specific announcements about events or educational campaigns in the PoC but can be more general messages to inform the target audience about the history and global presence of organizations in
INTERNEWS FY2017 Annual Report CA# AID-668-A-13-00005 October 2016-September 2017 Use or disclosure of data on this page is subject to the restriction on the cover sheet of this report. 71 the PoC. Background PSAs were therefore developed about the UN, UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, IOM, Mercy Corps, and DRC to name a few. With some script guidance by the journalism trainer, each of the three BBTT teams produced two special end-of-the-year programs. This was a reminder that the BBTT UN House team should be very proud of what they accomplished during the very challenging calendar year of 2016. The Internews project manager and journalism trainer continued to provide a mix of remote-based and on-site support to all of the BBTT sites throughout the fiscal year, including management of day-to-day project implementation and training, as well as ongoing consultations to launch the new radio station called Kondial FM in Bentiu PoC. BBTT programming was produced and broadcast at UN House, Bentiu PoC, and Bor PoC. BBTT-style programming known as Kalaam fil Bayt was also produced and broadcast in Ajoung Thok between January and mid-February. On 13th February, Jamjang FM, a fully operational community FM radio station launched in Ajoung Thok. Kalaam fil Bayt was therefore absorbed. The project manager and journalism trainer also supported the teams to produce and air both programs and PSAs on services delivered by humanitarian agencies, peace, security, health, social, cultural and camp management and coordination issues. Both helped the team to collect community feedback from IDPs and report it to humanitarian agencies to enhance the humanitarian accountability mechanisms to affected communities. Here are some site-specific activity and capacity building highlights for FY2017 (for Kondial FM, see previous section):
Bor PoC – Bor, Jonglei state As a participant in the Edward R. Murrow Program for Journalists organized by the US State Department, BBTT Bor team leader, Puot Panyuan Tor, came to the journalism trainer’s home city of Minneapolis in November and received one-on-one mentoring. His schedule was very full and included visits to polling places on election day, 8th November. During the visit, the journalism trainer was able to take Puot on a tour of Minneapolis to meet regular Americans. This included talking with police at an American university football game, trying out a Virtual Reality headset, chatting with a coffee shop owner who was running as a third party candidate, and visiting a computer recycling center. After every encounter, the journalism trainer and Puot were able to discuss how that particular aspect of life in America compared with the situation in South Sudan and/or how it related to journalism in general. The program also included visits to Washington D.C., Tampa, and New York City. Puot’s trip is included as a success story, which is an attachment to this report. Initial funding for the Bor project was only for six months, but due to the invaluable service of BBTT, and the great success of the team, Internews was able to keep the project going for almost two years. The BBTT project in Bor PoC was officially closed out after two years of continuous operation in the PoC at the end of the second quarter. An Internews team travelled to Bor to facilitate project closeout. In the weeks prior to project closeout, BBTT produced a series of programs that were a community ode to the project with dedicated programs to community testimonials from youth and women who discussed the impact that BBTT had made to the Bor PoC. Internews also worked with CCCM Cluster members and more specifically with ACTED (the camp managers in Bor PoC) to take on some of the BBTT activities. These mainly include PSAs and critical message announcements in the PoC. Internews provided background support to ACTED both at Juba and Bor levels. UN House PoCs 1 and 3 – Juba, Central Equatoria state In response to instances when rumors and myths are shared by community members as fact with the BBTT UN House team, the journalism trainer focused attention on editorial aspects and in particular on a journalists’ responsibility to fact check information presented in interviews. During the editorial discussion about a program on HIV/AIDS awareness, despite the fact that it is not a new topic, one interview with a community member included the following, "Someone who is infected by HIV/AIDS can eat black catfish INTERNEWS FY2017 Annual Report CA# AID-668-A-13-00005 October 2016-September 2017 Use or disclosure of data on this page is subject to the restriction on the cover sheet of this report. 72 or gariepinus catfish. You should eat it for a full year after that you should be better." The journalism trainer worked with the UN House team to ensure these statements were checked via medical doctors. Another mentoring highlight in FY2017 was in response to a program about the military apparel ban in the PoC. The program brought up important reminders about the BBTT editorial guidelines and what was not acceptable to include in a BBTT program. Specifically, BBTT does not allow any references in its programs that indicate a preference for one side of the conflict over the other. The journalism trainer helped the team to see that references to "our enemy" and "rebel soldier," are not appropriate, and guided them on the understanding the journalistic ethics in such a conflict sensitive environment. In the second quarter, Internews applied for funding from UNOCHA’s South Sudan Humanitarian Fund (SSHF), formerly known as Common Humanitarian Fund to sustain the BBTT project at UN House. Internews secured funding ($145,000 USD) which will allow BBTT at UN House to continue operation through December 2017. CCCM partners are optimistic that the services of BBTT at UN House provides lifesaving information to affected communities within in the UN house PoC. Throughout FY2017, the BBTT team benefitted from the on-site presence of the Internews journalism trainer for a few days while he transited to his usual post in Bentiu PoC. They took advantage of the face-to-face time to have a meeting with the team on how the mentoring sessions will continue and what is expected of the team moving forward in terms of content development and editing. The main objective of the training was to equip the team with the skills of multi-track editing enabling them produce programs with much better quality and with improved efficiency. In addition, the UN House team continued to produce quality humanitarian information programs. Examples of community feedback-informed programming include: Upon news of the closure IMC clinic, BBTT facilitated discussions between ACTED, and camp management while they engaged in a protracted negotiation process with community leaders and IMC in an effort to have IMC clinic re-opened. BBTT facilitated the discussions by providing feedback from the community and organizing discussion forums for both parties. The re- opening of the clinic took place in May 2017. Women face many risks when they go out of the PoC to collect firewood. The Ethiopian and Chinese battalions began providing more protection to these women following a program on BBTT. In the weeks following, BBTT gauged the reaction of residents. Simon Tut from zone B, block 6 said he is "happy to hear that days for firewood collection have been increased…Women will not suffer due to firewood. They will collect more." BBTT reported that people were starving because they were not immediately registered upon arrival. In the meantime, BBTT suggested PoC residents contribute some food and Morobo communities were appreciative. 1.2 Respond to new and unanticipated emergencies with innovative approaches as needed Internews continued to explore locations with humanitarian information needs using coordination and bilateral changing polices in Internews security policy meetings with humanitarian actors as a means to gauge needs. Despite the unstable security situation, which necessitated the reduction of international staff and opening of projects in new locations, Internews explored the option of partnering with local NGOs as implementing partners. Internews plans to award a sub-grant to VOF/CRN to implement a project to enhance “Internally Displaced People’s Access to Information through Effective Communications with Communities” tools in the Wau PoC and collective centres. The project will provide accurate, engaging, localized content that amplifies the effectiveness of the humanitarian response by connecting community members to each other and to humanitarian agencies.
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Activity 2: Distribution of Radio Sets to enhance dedicated listening of HIS FY17 KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
1,052 solar radios distributed at HIS locations: January-March 2017 Ten new listening groups were formed in Ajoung Thok for Jamjang FM: January-March 2017 2.1 Procure and distribute 40,000 solar power, wind-up radios In UN House, 52 radio sets were distributed to listening groups. The radio sets were funded through i- STREAM.
In addition, planned radio set distribution was completed in Ajuong Thok, Pamir and Yida camps/settlement reaching 1,000 community members from both the refugee and local community. Radio sets were funded by BPRM and distributions were timed around World Radio Day and the launch of the new station Jamjang FM on 13th February 2017.
Radio Distribution at HIS Locations in FY2017 Project Locations No. of radios Funder Distribution partners distributed UN House Juba 52 i-STREAM Community, block leaders Jamjang FM Ajoung Thok, Yida, Pamir 1,000 BPRM Community, block leaders
2.2 Develop and implement best practices for Listening Groups Most Internews sites create listening groups to ensure regular, vital community input and feedback to programs ensuring that diverse voices are heard. These listening groups are the cornerstone of the radio distribution approach. Internews collects feedback on a weekly basis from the local population in the four PoCs where BBTT operates. The drivers of the Boda Boda that broadcast the program in the PoC camps collect feedback from the people gathering around the speakers to listen to the program and while they are looking for stories from the local population. Weekly, the feedback is aggregated and the data is cleaned. All feedback is categorized according to the cluster they refer to, and reported to humanitarian organizations so that they can respond. Internews follows up to assess if the issues reported have been resolved or not. Listening groups have an average of 10-12 members per group. The following table illustrates listening groups by location:
Location No. of listening No. of listening groups group members
Ajuong Thok, Yida and 10 100+
Pamir Bor PoC 9 90+ Bentiu PoC 500 5,000+ Malakal PoC 14 140+ UN House 11 110+
In the third quarter, two best practice guides called the Listening Groups Manual and the Radio Distribution Manual were published. In addition to step-by-step instructions for setup and implementation of listening groups and radio distribution, the Learning Collection is now finalized and includes site- specific case studies with lessons learned from each. 2.3 Coordinate with TRC (Objective 1) to ensure stations in non-conflict areas receive radios
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The Listening Group Guide and Radio Distribution Manual will be linked to Community Radio Associations in the TRC (see Component 2: The Radio Community), ensuring that communities in need in non-conflict affected areas are not forgotten. See Activity 2.3 for how TRC is distributing radios according to their needs.
Activity 3: Advocacy, Training and Communications on developing Community Centered Communicating with Communities (CWC) approaches FY17 KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Publication of the Boda Boda Talk Talk Learning Module: February 2017 Humanitarian director presented findings of 2016 Internews Beneficiary Feedback Report at inter-cluster working group: March 2017 Internews leads CwC training for seven humanitarian organizations (Bentiu PoC): March 2017 Conducted the 2017 Internews Beneficiary Feedback Report: September 2017
Internews continues to advocate for CwC via the Boda Boda Talk Talk projects, Jamjang FM, Kondial FM and Nile FM at UN PoCs, refugee camps and the additional informal settlements where Internews operates. Internews serves as the primary communication bridge between the PoC and refugee communities and humanitarian organizations. BBTT, Jamjang FM and Nile FM ensure that partners are made aware of the communities’ needs and that the communities are aware of what the agencies are working on. This communication bridge continues to be accomplished in a variety of ways: Communication with Communities: Internews shares major accomplishments and activities by both the PoC or refugee community and humanitarian agencies in Nuer or Arabic programs. Communication with Humanitarians: The weekly Humanitarian Information Service (HIS) bulletin distributed by e-mail is sent to hundreds of representatives at various partner organizations and humanitarian agencies to keep them informed of topics being discussed at the community level. The four-page newsletters contain a summary of Nile FM and BBTT programs and headlines, feedback from the PoC, PSAs for the week, and plans for the coming week. Participation in both coordination meetings: BBTT and Nile FM continue to attend a wide range of coordination meetings both in the PoC and among humanitarian agencies both at national and state levels. Project managers and trainers regularly and actively participate in the weekly cluster and coordination meetings and present feedback and complaints from the communities. 3.1 Coordination with Clusters The Internews humanitarian director made two weeklong trips to Juba in the first quarter and met with humanitarian partners including clusters, donors, Internews staff and beneficiaries and discussed program implementation, technical assistance, and advocacy. The director discussed the Communication with Communities (CWC) Strategy for 2017 in PoC sites across South Sudan at a Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) cluster workshop. During this visit, the director also met with UNOCHA to discuss the HRP proposal under the Coordination and Common Services Cluster. The cluster is interested in funding a series of projects that will allow for CwC to be embedded into the overall cluster mechanism in South Sudan. Internews meet with UNHCR, IOM and the CCCM cluster to submit a proposal for potential SSHF (South Sudan Humanitarian Fund) funding for BBTT activities in UN House and potentially to support a small project in Wau. While Internews’ activities have been marked as high priority for the CCCM cluster, due to the very low funding secured to date through the SS Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP), only activities at UN house were funded. However, Internews through support from other actors will continue to work within CCCM cluster to respond to new and growing needs in new locations. At the inter-cluster working group meeting in December 2016, the Internews humanitarian director presented the findings of the 2016 Internews Beneficiary Feedback Report that was used as an official contribution to the UN Humanitarian Needs Overview/Humanitarian Response Plan (HNO-
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HRP). Feedback was overwhelmingly positive and Internews was encouraged to continue analyzing community feedback and presenting it back to humanitarians on a regular basis to improve programming. At the field-level, in response to high demand, Internews began work to open a feedback desk in Pamir camp in the third quarter. The desk will operate two days a week to receive feedback from the local community. UNHCR is offering an empty room with all facilities (internet and electricity) in its field office. The project team continued to engage with partners and the Communication with Communities (CwC) Working Group members. Three local partners (Indigenous Knowledge Center, Smile Again Africa Development Organization (SAADO), and Impact/REACH Initiative) continued program implementation. The CwC Working Group members met with UN House BBTT to learn how CwC actually works on the ground. They also interacted with WFP to initiate more inclusive discussions. The CwC Working Group is also now working closely with BBC Media Action as part of the new sub-grant award. A key successful coordination effort was made between Internews, UNHCR and UNOCHA to bring Kondial FM back on air. The organizations provided assistance at the field level and at the Juba head office to resolve the closure of Kondial FM. UNOCHA's 'access impediment' unit leader provided legal advice and CCCM's co-lead UNHCR brought the issue of Kondial FM at the national level ICWG meeting. 3.2 CwC trainings for NGOs and implementers In March, the Internews journalism trainer conducted CwC training with staff members of NGOs and UN missions to sites outside the Bentiu PoC. The main objective of the training was to expand the coverage network so that the new radio station Kondial 97.2 FM and Boda Boda Talk Talk programs contain more information to help all IDPs have a better idea about the situation outside the Bentiu PoC. More than seven organizations attended the training, including IOM, CONCERN, DRC, CCO, Hope Restoration South Sudan, OSPDI, and VSF Suisse. Sixteen staff members were trained. No further workshops were conducted by Internews for NGOs or implementers. With the recruitment of the new Communicating with Communities (CwC) advisor, this sub-activity was delayed until FY2018. 3.3 CWC trainings embedded with Internews station staff and with Radio-in-a-Box stations This sub-activity has been merged with ongoing capacity building efforts as part of the Module 5: Communicating with Communities (CwC) of the Journalism Skills Assessment Matrix under Component 3: Journalism and Media Training. 3.4 Thought leadership, tools and guidebooks Great progress was made this year in the finalizing of several documents within Internews’ Learning Collections. The Internews Humanitarian Information Services (HIS) Learning Collections communicate key lessons, best practices, and programmatic methodologies used by Internews’ humanitarian teams around the world. In FY2017, the following were published: The Boda Boda Talk Talk Learning Collection is the first in the series, providing the theory and rationale behind a hyperlocal humanitarian information service, two case studies of implementing BBTT in Tong Ping (Juba) and Malakal with key lessons learned, and a detailed, step-by-step methodology for establishing a BBTT project in any location. The Radio Distribution Learning Collection is the second in the HIS series, following the Boda Boda Talk Talk Learning Collection. It explains the critical need to distribute radios in South Sudan as a means of information access, two case studies of radio distributions in Bentiu and Malakal, and a how to guide that explains radio model selection, population sampling and distribution techniques, and monitoring and reporting on the impact of radio distribution. The Listening Groups Learning Collection will be the third in the HIS series, following BBTT and Radio Distribution. It will explain the importance of listening groups as a tool to illicit feedback about programming and humanitarian service provision, and provide case studies of listening groups in UN House, Malakal, and Abyei. In addition, it will offer a detailed “how to guide” to establishing listening groups, designing interactive methodologies, leading facilitated discussions, data utilization, and disseminating feedback captured via listening groups to the humanitarian community.
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In FY2016, the local Internews teams conducted focus group discussions (FGDs) in Bor PoC, UN House PoCs 1 and 3, Bentiu PoC, and Malakal PoC. The FGDs were made up of 10 persons each with a number of established Internews listening groups ranging from a sample of 0.05% of the IDP population to 2.5% depending on the size of the PoC. 79 focus group discussions were conducted across four UN Protection of Civilians sites (Bentiu, Bor, Juba, and Malakal). With each focus group made up of 10 individuals, a total of 790 internally displaced persons therefore participated in the study. With this information, Internews published the “Beneficiary Feedback Report for the 2017 Humanitarian Needs Overview and Humanitarian Response Plan.”
Bor PoC UN House PoC 1 and Bentiu PoC Malakal PoC 3
2001 IDPs 39,380 IDPs 101,350 IDPs 33,028 IDPs
5 FGDs = 50 total 20 FGDs = 200 total 34 FGD = 340 total 20 FGDs = 200 total participants participants participants participants
Analysis was completed on a collection of 850 items of feedback collected by Internews teams between January 2016 and October 2016 in UN House PoCs, Bor PoC, Bentiu PoC and Malakal PoCs (including Malakal town and Wau Shilluk) through the established BBTT listening groups (different from the focus groups conducted for the HNO/HRP project). While the data collected here is not a statistical representation of the reality of the areas considered, it provides a realistic picture of the situation on the ground and of the needs of the local population. In addition, by looking at the feedback provided by the local population we can identify issues that require better and more efficient information campaigns from the humanitarian community and where and how to manage expectations from beneficiaries.
The general findings from both the targeted focus group discussions and the ongoing feedback collected from January 2016 include:
In the areas surveyed, beneficiaries listed their priority needs as access to shelter, food, improved WASH services as well as reliable health services. An important need listed by the community was reliable information about the ongoing peace process and its implementation around the country. Generally, participants described the interaction between the community and the humanitarian organizations as a strong and positive relationship. When speaking about the ability to access or interact with humanitarian organizations, participants mentioned that they communicate using various channels including camp management, community leaders, PoC meetings, and Boda Boda Talk Talk. The community stated they are not aware of the resources available to humanitarian organizations because they say organizations do not disclose or communicate these details with them. This also means that they do not know or have an understanding of how organizations decide their priorities. Results indicate that more effort should be made to facilitate participatory, community- centered and transparent programming to ensure the needs of the community are heard and addressed. Each project site had varying levels of response rates from Humaniratian organizations. In responding to feedback reported, UN House seems to be the PoC where organizations struggle the most, with an average response to feedback at 13% for all clusters. In general, clusters operating in all sites can improve efforts to not only listen to issues raised by the community, but also communicate a response about why the issue may or may not have been solved. This is often the crucial link missing as the community may not understand the often legitimate reasons for issues not being solved.
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The chart above shows the difference in the overall amount of feedback collected; how much of that feedback was provided to humanitarian organizations to address; and how many of those issues have been resolved after the problem was reported. For the purpose of this analysis, the feedback that is not reported to humanitarian agencies here is usually feedback that does not require an action, for example, positive comments on the service provided or issues that cannot be solved by any agency.
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COMPONENT 11: PRIORITY THEMATIC AREAS
FY17 KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
A total of 1,221 items combined content focused on peace-related topics: October 2016 – September 2017 28 episodes of Eye Radio’s Search for Peace, 30-minute program series provided ARCSS content analysis and progress toward implementation (in English, Arabic, and six local languages): October 2016 – September 2017 46 episodes of TRC’s Partners for Peace, a 10-15 minute series provided ARCSS content analysis and progress toward implementation in simple, easy-to-understand language (in Dinka and Nuer): October 2016 – September 2017 A total of 1,165 items combined content focused on family planning and sexual/reproductive health-related topics: October 2016 – September 2017 Overview In addition to coverage of the implementation of the peace agreement, and family planning and sexual/reproductive health issues as reported below, i-STREAM is committed to integrating crosscutting key issues such as gender equality/women’s empowerment, gender-based violence, and youth development throughout project design. Coverage of these issues is mentioned throughout this report under the respective components and extensive lists of news and program stories are included in previous Internews’ weekly reports to USAID.
Eye Radio, The Radio Community (TRC), the Internews Humanitarian Information Service (HIS) through Boda Boda Talk Talk (BBTT), and many i-STREAM partners closely monitor their calendars for upcoming international campaigns as a strategy for selecting angles for their programming. In FY2017, several international campaigns were leveraged to focus quality media content on key issues such as International Day of the Girl Child (11th October), 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence (25th November – 10th December), beginning with International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (25th November) and ending with International Human Rights Day (10th December). Activity 1: Conflict Sensitive Journalism (Specifically Radio Tamazuj) This activity was completed in FY2016. Activity 2: Coverage of the Peace Process The peace talks were completed in FY2015, however, Internews has closely monitored the unfolding situation of the peace process and has continued to cover the implementation of ARCSS (Agreement for the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan) as well as peace and reconciliation issues, as detailed in components one and two. Coverage of peace related issues occur on an ongoing basis in local languages and are incorporated into both flagship programs and special programs at Eye Radio and TRC stations, as well as Boda Boda Talk Talk projects. Additionally, PSAs have been created which distill the main messages to simple, digestible pieces, which remind all people, from ordinary citizens to power brokers, the basic tenants of the agreements. During FY2017, across the i-STREAM project, Internews-supported community radio stations and humanitarian information services have produced and broadcast a total of 1,207 items content including news stories and programs focused on peace-related topics. This accounts for 6% of overall content produced and broadcast across all stations and projects. The following are highlights of peace-related content produced and broadcast in FY2017: Eye Radio FM produced a total of 407 news stories on peace-related topics. This amounts to approximately 8% of total news stories.
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Eye Radio produced and broadcast over 315 live and pre-packaged peace-related programs (not including music programs) across the repeater network, which included talk shows, featured guests, and special coverage. This amounts to approximately 16% of total programs. The Radio Community (TRC) produced a total of 196 news stories on peace-related topics (diplomacy/mediation, disarmament/demobilization, reconciliation, other). This amounts to 4% of total news stories produced and broadcast in FY2017. News stories feature both local and international news of the day and usually vary from 30 seconds to a few minutes of airtime. The stories were produced in Turalei, Warrap State; Malualkon, Northern Bahr El Ghazal State; Mingkaman, Lakes State; Bor, Jonglei State; and Kapoeta, Eastern Equatoria State and broadcast through the respective community radio stations. TRC stations also produced and broadcast 216 pre-recorded programs and live radio on peace-related topics across the network, which included talk shows, featured guests, call-ins, music and entertainment, and more. Programs vary in length from 10 minutes to 2 or more hours. This amounts to approximately 7% of total programs produced and broadcast in FY2017. Internews produced a total of 14 program episodes on peace-related topics (diplomacy/mediation, disarmament/demobilization, reconciliation, other) that were aired through the Boda Boda Talk Talk (BBTT) service or Kalaam fil Bayt at Protection of Civilians (PoC) sites in UN House, Bor, and Bentiu and Ajoung Thok, Yida and Jamjang towns and settlements. This amounts to approximately 3% of total programs produced and broadcast in FY2017.
Peace Content Broadcast at EM, TRC & HIS Peace - Other 5%
Reconcilliation Diplomacy & 32% Mediation 49%
Disarmament & Demobilization 14% Peace related content in FY2017 Partner/Projects News stories Program episodes Total Eye Radio 407 315 722 TRC 49 196 85 HIS 167 73 240 BBTT 14 14 Total 623 598 1221
As part of regular news and programming on peace-related themes at Eye Radio, TRC, and BBTT, peace dedicated programming was produced and broadcast through the Search for Peace and Partners for Peace, throughout the first quarter of FY2017. Eye Radio produced and broadcast 28 episodes of the Search for Peace weekly program. In FY2017, Search for Peace has focused on explaining the content of the peace agreement and progress toward peace implementation over the year in South Sudan. The program is aired on Saturdays at 12:00 pm with a repeat on the same day at 8:00 pm. The program is first produced and presented in English
INTERNEWS FY2017 Annual Report CA# AID-668-A-13-00005 October 2016-September 2017 Use or disclosure of data on this page is subject to the restriction on the cover sheet of this report. 80 and Arabic by the producer, and later translated into the various local languages namely: Bari every Monday, Dinka every Tuesday, Lotuka on Wednesday, Nuer on Thursday, Chollo (or Shilluk) on Friday and Zande on Saturday between 8:00PM-8:30 PM. The show is broadcast in Juba and at all repeater stations across South Sudan. TRC produced and broadcast 46 episodes of the Partners for Peace program on TRC stations and in the PoCs through Boda Boda Talk Talk: Partners for Peace is a 10 to 15-minute apolitical program that is produced in English, Dinka, and Nuer and broadcast in Dinka and Nuer on TRC stations and at the Boda Boda Talk Talk (BBTT) sites across South Sudan. The program discusses the peace agreement using simple language that everyone can understand. It also follows up on the current affairs regarding peace agreement implementation in South Sudan. The show is broadcast in Turalei, Malualkon, Malalkal, Kapoeta, and Mingkaman, as well as, when appropriate, in PoCs in Bentiu, Bor, and UN House. Activity 3: Increase Civic Education programing This activity was meant to address election coverage if and when elections are planned. It remains unclear to what extent the government is considering or planning to hold elections. Activity 4: Increase family planning and sexual/reproductive health (FP/SRH) programming Internews DCoP attended the two-day family planning workshop held in Juba by the USAID Global Health Bureau in March 2017 to meet health implementers as well as understand compliance issues and requirements around family planning (FP) activities. A senior reporter from Eye Radio attended as well, to learn more about FP issues and create new contacts and resources for FP stories. Internews then had a follow-up meeting with USAID and the Global Health team of Jennifer Mason and Basilica Modi. The meeting was to discuss how Internews could increase coverage of FP issues, in line with the requirements of the global health office. While Internews stations and BBTT projects do a significant amount of coverage on sexual and reproductive health, a joint goal is to plan for more specific coverage.
Family Planning and Sexual Reproductive Health Content Broadcast at EM, TRC & HIS FGM/C Gender-Based 0% Violence Family 13% Planning 2%
Child Marriage Maternal & Child Education Health 33% 52%
Internews supported community radio stations and humanitarian service information (HIS) projects produced and broadcast a combined total of 1,165 items of news and programming content totaling dozens of hours of quality radio content on family planning and sexual reproductive health (FP/SRH) issues in FY2017. This means 6% of total content produced and broadcast in FY2017 related to FP/SRH issues. In accordance with USAID higher level and second-level FP/SRH indicators9, all content related to family planning, maternal health, child survival, HIV/STI prevention, nutrition, hygiene, malaria, women/girls empowerment, and gender-based violence is considered relevant.
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In FY2017, Eye Radio FM produced a total of 132 news stories focused on family planning or sexual/reproductive health. The stories were produced in Juba, Central Equatoria State and broadcast in Juba and throughout South Sudan through Eye Radio’s repeater network. This amounts to approximately 3% of total news stories produced and broadcast in the first quarter of FY2017. In addition to news stories, Eye Radio also produced and broadcast over 131 live and pre-packaged programs focused on family planning or sexual/reproductive health across the repeater network, which included talk shows, featured guests, and special coverage. This amounts to approximately 7% of total programs produced and broadcast in FY2017. In FY2017, The Radio Community (TRC) produced a total of 234 news stories focused on family planning or sexual/reproductive health. This amounts to approximately 5% of total news stories produced and broadcast in FY2017. News stories feature both local and international news of the day and usually vary from 30 seconds to a few minutes of airtime. The stories were produced in Turalei, Warrap State; Malualkon, Northern Bahr El Ghazal State; Mingkaman, Jonglei State; Malakal, Upper Nile State; and Kapoeta, Eastern Equatoria State, and broadcast through the respective community radio stations. In addition to news stories, TRC stations also produced and broadcast 230 live and pre-recorded programs focused on family planning or sexual/reproductive health across the network, which included talk shows, featured guests, call-ins, music and entertainment, and more. This amounts to approximately 7% of total programs produced and broadcast in FY2017. Programs vary in length from 10 minutes to 2 or more hours. In FY2017, TRC stations produced and broadcast over 24 public service announcements (PSAs) on family planning and sexual/reproductive health (FP/SRH) issues in FY2017. This amounts to approximately 15% of total PSAs produced and broadcast in FY2017. Internews TRC stations collaborated with more than 9 organizations including International Medical Corps, ACTED, Ministry of Health, Save the Children, and more. Internews produced a total of 29 program episodes on family planning or sexual/reproductive health that were aired through the Boda Boda Talk Talk service and Kalaam fil Bayt. This amounts to approximately 11% of total programs produced and broadcast there in FY2017. In FY2017, Internews humanitarian service information (HIS) projects produced and broadcast 155 public service announcements (PSAs) on family planning and sexual/reproductive health (FP/SRH) issues in FY2017. This amounts to approximately 14% of total PSAs produced and broadcast in FY2017. Internews HIS projects collaborated with more than 7 organizations including International Medical Corps, International Rescue Committee, Non-Violent Peace Force, THESO, and more. Family planning related content items in FY2017 Partner/Projects News stories Program episodes Total Eye Radio 132 131 263 TRC 234 230 464 HIS 254 155 409 BBTT - 29 29 Total 620 545 1165
Internews frequently collaborates with health partners by working through the Health Cluster, the FP/SRH Working Group and with NGOs implementing FP services. Internews is creating partnerships and collaborating on innovative ways to use media and information to increase awareness of and access to health services. Examples of existing collaborations have included a “Mum of the Month” competition in collaboration with an NGO on the radio, and a series of HIV programs in which the presenter tested himself on air, to encourage others and reduce stigma.
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INDICATOR PROGRESS
Customized i-STREAM Project Indicators: Customized output and outcome indicators organized by project goal and objectives. RESP. FRE- PERFORMANCE DATA BASELINE DATA TARGETS ORG. / INDICATOR DEFINITION QUENC INDICATORS SOURCE STAFFER Y Year Value FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17 FY18
Objective 1: Strengthen autonomous, journalistic professionalism and facilitate the development of institutionally well-managed and financially self-sustained independent media.
Objective Level Indicators 1.1: % increase in Periodic aggregated assessment using standardized Standardiz Annual New – TRC score measuring matrix; Disaggregated by type of medium, outlet, ed Matrix TRC: Station professional partner, gender, age and location. TRC: 2.2 10% Mgmt capacity of HIS: 2.3 TBD N/A N/A TBD 10% Internews journalists and HIS: M&E managers 10% Team (Outcome) Achieved to date: Disaggregated: gender, location, position (journalists and managers). TRC: TRC: FY16: Assessment of TRC stations (Mayardit FM, Mingkaman FM, Nhomlaau FM, Nile FM) and HIS/BBTT teams (UN 2.2 31% House, Bor, and Bentiu PoCs) were conducted; a detailed report was included as an attachment to the FY16 annual report. N/A N/A HIS: HIS: FY1710: Gender: Male (60%), Female (80%); Location: TRC: Mayardit FM (55%), Mingkaman FM (2%), Nhomlaau FM 2.3 88% (51%), Nile FM (84%); HIS: BBTT/Kondial FM (95%), BBTT UN House (88%); Position: Journalist (65%), Editor (70%) 1.2: % of revenue Revenue includes funds generated through Eye Media Annual ER ER N/A 6% 9% 20% 27% Eye Media generated at advertising, grants from other organizations or other and FY15 0% and TRC Community Radio derived income. Costs include salary, CRN CRN CRN N/A 0% 3% 6% 11% Station stations and Eye benefits/insurance, contracts, office supplies, Business FY15 0% Managem Radio and then equipment, materials, travel and ODCs. Records Average N/A 3% 6% 13% 19% ent applied directly to costs (Outcome)
10 Compared to FY16 where n=75, in FY17 n=27 and only 26 of those people were involved in the baseline assessment. Thus, percentage increases reflect n=26 accounting only for the percentage increase of those assessed in both FY16 and FY17.
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Achieved to date: Disaggregated: Eye Media annual operating budget is approximately $1.8 million. N/A EM EM EM FY15: Eye Media earned $265,306 in FY15; they expended $186,758 in costs, for a total of 10% of revenue generated 10% 21% 11% applied directly to costs in FY15 (the remainder is carried over). TRC TRC TRC FY16: Eye Media earned $319,931 in FY16; they expended $381,848 in costs, for a total of 21% of revenue generated 0% 0% 0% applied directly to costs in FY16. TRC indicator was planned to begin in Y3, but due to the tragic events in Q4, this has been pushed to Y4-Y5. FY17: Eye Media earned $89,484 in FY17; they expended $199,010 in costs for a total of 11% of revenue generated applied directly to costs in FY17. TRC indicator continues to hold until further notice. Output Indicators 1.3 (F-Indicator CSOs that provide professional journalism or media Project Quarterly N/A Internews 2.4.2-11): # of training, lobby on behalf of independent media sector, Records M&E Team USG-assisted and/or otherwise serve to strengthen the functioning and Media-Sector of independent media. Targets include small grants Finance CSOs and for capacity building and media advocacy; pre- Team Institutions that identified local partners; and organizations supported N/A N/A 9 15 20 5 serve to by i-STREAM partners. The total number for each FY strengthen the represents unique CSOs, and are not accumulative independent across the entire project. media or journalists (Output) Achieved to date: Disaggregated: 6 15 1611 8 FY16: Eye Media, MDI, Radio Tamazuj, AMDISS, University of Juba, UJOSS, Woyee, Sama FM, CNISS, Voice of Freedom FM, KMIC, Gurtong, Radio Bakhita, Juba Monitor, Nation Mirror, Juba Film Limited FY17: Eye Media, MDI, AMDISS, UJOSS, Voice of Freedom FM, Juba Film Limited, Abyei Information and Radio Service, Catholic Radio Network 1.4: # of Journalists may be freelance, students or staff Attendance Quarterly New University journalists trained working for Internews or other media outlets. Training sheets, of Juba, with USG refers to all training or education events whether partner MDI, Eye assistance short-term or long-term; includes basic, technical, reports Radio, TRC (output) university, and mid-career, certificated training. These 0 50 75 100 100 75 stations, numbers are noncumulative and represent the Internews, number of unique individual journalists trained in a other given year. (In a given year, journalists will not be partners double counted if they receive multiple trainings) Achieved to date: Disaggregated: 78 406 451 139 FY14: Male (56); Female (22) / FY15: Male (274); Female (132) / FY16: Male (333); Female (118) / FY17: Male (99); Female 12 (40)
11 This number represents only USG-assisted media sector CSOs and institutions that have received direct support (technical, financial, material), and not organizations that participate in a single training. 12 Note this figure differs from what was reported on the FY15 PIRS, as indicator results for subgrantees for FY15 were not received until after the PIRS were submitted to USAID
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Objective 2: Promote a freer and open media environment by improving the normative-legal-regulatory conditions and supporting media institutions.
Objective Level Indicator 2.1: Density of Leverages all sector-wide activities including support Social Baseline, New TBD Internews media outlet institutions (MDI/UJOSS), media sector working Network Midterm, M&E team; network group, key stakeholders, and annual conferences. Analysis: % and Final Independe N/A N/A TBD 2% 2% (Outcome) Baseline to be conducted in Y2. increase in nt network Consultant density Achieved to date: An SNA was partially conducted in FY16Q3, and scheduled for completion in FY16Q4, but renewed conflict N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A has delayed or permanently canceled these research activities. Output Indicators 2.2: # of policy Policy actions include proposals for legislation, Policy Semi- New N/A Albany actions as a direct regulations, rules and codes accepted by policy Event Annual Assoc. result of i- makers; high-level convenings; advocacy efforts Tracking STREAM activities including meetings with stakeholders, workshops and on media legal conferences etc. Legal and regulatory environment and regulatory includes spectrum allocation, management and environment policy; internet governance; regulatory practice and (Output) procedures affecting media; media legislation, N/A 9 7 2 1 regulation, rules or codes; other policies or practices affecting the rights of media or journalists. Interventions are in the form of debriefings, distribution of an incident report, provision of material aid, provision or identification of legal support. The total number for each FY represents unique actions, and are not accumulative across the entire project. Achieved to date: Disaggregated: N/A 16 14 2 FY15: 1) Legal defense support and advocacy De Wet Spies; 2) Comparative report on the signed media bills; 3) Mentoring and advisory services provided to the Ministry of Telecommunications and Postal Services; 4) Advocacy intervention with diplomatic actors to begin the establishment of an early response structure for journalists and media workers; 5) Legal defense support and advocacy – Nation Mirror; 6) JHR Training presentation on the relationship between journalists and the security sector; 7) Mapping of Lawyers inside and outside of Juba; 8)Background document on Legal Defense; 9) Training Manual for 10 workshops; 10) Delivery of a workshop in Torit 27-29 April 2015 (30 participants, 6 women); 11) Delivery of a workshop in Yambio (19-22 May) (33 participants, 8 women); 12) Delivery of a workshop in Wau (16-19 June) (25 participants, 10 women); 13) Support to the World Press Freedom Day Conference (4-5 May 2015); 14) Delivery of a workshop in Kuajok (27 participants, 8 women); 15) Delivery of a workshop in Aweil (28 participants, 8 women); 16) Delivery of a workshop in Rumbek (25 participants, 7 women). FY16: 1) Delivery of workshop in Yei (24 participants, 3 women); 2) Support to International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists; 3) Delivery of a workshop in Bor (9-11 Feb) (27 participants, 3 women); 4) Printing, delivery and dissemination of summarized media laws in English and Arabic; 5) Presentations and radio talk shows on freedom of expression and human rights; 6) Observers at Monroe Price Moot Court in UK; 7) Drafting of legal defense mechanism 8)
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Delivery of workshop in Juba for Bentiu and Malakal journalists (22 participants, 4 women); 9) Delivery of conference on Access to Justice (150 participants); 10) Delivery of workshop in Juba for human rights lawyers (38 participants); 11) Legal support to Alfred Taban; 12) Production of Manual on Freedom of Expression in South Sudan 13) Financial support to Press Freedom Monitor; 14) Financial support to Center for Human Rights Law re: legal talk show FY17: 1) Publication of Manual of Freedom of Expression Law in South Sudan, 2) Facilitation of learning trip for South Sudanese radio engineers to Ofcom, UK media regulation agency. 2.3: (F-Indicator Non-state-controlled news outlets include privately- Project Quarterly 2013 N/A Internews 2.4.2-5): # of non- owned, community, or independent public service Records M&E state news outlets media outlets. These numbers are cumulative across Team, N/A 5 9 14 20 assisted by USG all five years with the anticipation that some BBC, FPU, (Output) assistance will carry across the entire project, while NPA others will be for a shorter span of time. Achieved to date: Disaggregated: 7 13 15 18 FY14-FY17: Eye Radio, Akol YamFM/Nhomlaau FM, Mayardit FM, Sobat FM13, Naath FM14, Mingkaman FM, Radio Tamazuj, Nile FM, Bakhita FM, Sama FM, Voice of Freedom FM, Gurtong, Juba Monitor, Nation Mirror, Singaita FM, Abyei Information and Radio Service, Jamjang FM, Voice of Hope FM Objective 3: More effective South Sudanese media capacities to raise the quality, quantity and self-sustainability of development communications by the South Sudanese media across democracy-building, peace, economic growth, social, health and other key issues.
Objective Level Indicator
3.1: % change of Baseline and second wave surveys will be conducted Surveys At the start Varied Varied Internews HIS baseline & 2nd at each HIS and radio-in-a-box sight assessing conducted and M&E wave survey access to information. When new sites are initiated, by Forcier approx. 4- Team and where HIS and this survey process will continue. The specific Consulting. 6 months Forcier radio-in-a-box is questions to be evaluated will depend on the site due following N/A 10% 10% 10% 10% Consulting active (Outcome) to differences in needs at each site. Information will the be disaggregated by location. implement ation of an HIS Achieved to date: Disaggregated: N/A 31.5 N/A16 N/A FY1515: UN House PoC 1 (7%); UN House PoC 2 (44%); UN House PoC 3 (43%); Malakal PoC (32%) %
Output Indicators
13 Operations were suspended at Sobat FM in FY14 due to the conflict 14 Operations were suspended at Naath FM in FY15 due to the conflict. 15 Tong Ping and Mingkaman surveys were conducted in FY2014 therefore they are not included in these indicator results. 16 This indicator is used for new sites only. Only one new site opened in FY16, at Bentiu POC. A baseline survey was conducted at Bentiu PoC, but since a midline survey has not yet been conducted, this value remains N/A as of the end of FY16.
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547,457 662,422 3.2: % increase of Baseline is derived from the South Sudan National Population Bi-annually 2013 Internews actual listeners of Audience Survey conducted in 2013. It is anticipated data, M&E Team Internews radio that the five Internews radio stations will increase Internews
stations, including their listenership by 10% in the aggregate between 10 N/A 10% N/A TRC and Eye each survey. Data will be disaggregated by station. % Radio (Output) New figures will be derived from the national audience survey to be conducted twice over the course of i-STREAM. Achieved to date: Although the 2015 National Audience Survey was successfully conducted, comparability between the 2013 N/A N/A N/A N/A and 2015 surveys is not possible. The conflict, inaccessibility of parts of the country during the 2015 National Audience Survey, massive population shifts, and no reliable population data, makes it impossible to provide actual listener figures, as opposed to the percentage of respondents. This indicator is therefore not relevant for FY15, and will not be counted again due to funding cuts to the i-STREAM budget for research activities.
136,000 N/A 236,000 TBD TBD TBD 3.3: # of people # of individuals based on documented # of IDPs and Population Yearly FY 14 Internews
reached through host populations at each POC or spontaneous data, M&E Team Internews HIS settlement site where the HIS is located. It is Internews
Services (radio-in- anticipated Internews will operate a total of four such a-box and BBTT sites per year (2 radios and 2 BBTT), during the projects) (Output) duration of the conflict. Average population at spontaneous settlement site (radio in a box location) is 100,000; at POC site (BBTT location) is 18,000.
Achieved to date: Disaggregated: N/A 250,268 388,365 5
12,179 FY15: UN House (28,526); Bor PoC (2,289); Malakal PoC (47,828); Malakal town (@50,000); Mingkaman (71,625); Leer (@50,000).
FY16: UN House (38,874); Bor PoC (2,001); Malakal PoC (33,052); Malakal town (@50,000); Mingkaman (114,837); Leer 19 20 21
(@50,000); Yida/AjoungThok (99,601) FY17: UN House (38,448); Bor PoC (1,940); Malakal County (48,832)17; Mingkaman (114,720); Yida/AjoungThok (108,078); Bentiu PoC (200,161)18
17Consists of data from Malakal PoC, Malakal Town and Wau Shilluk 18 Consists of data from Bentiu PoC and Bentiu Town Collective Centre. 19Leer data are estimates, as per above notes, and based on known populations at time of setup of stations and before additional population movements; other site data are accurate, September 2015 figures from IOM. While Leer is now closed due to conflict, it was on air from September 2014 to May 2015. 20Yida/AjoungThok figures are from UNHCR. All other population data is September 2016 figures from IOM. The Leer project was active from April to June 2016. 21Yida/Ajoung Thok figures are from UNHCR (http://data.unhcr.org/SouthSudan/region.php?id=26&country=251). All other population data is September 2017 figures from IOM biometric data (http://iomsouthsudan.org/tracking/biometric). Bor PoC project closed in March 2017.
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PROJECT HISTORY
As we have now entered the fourth year of a five-year project, this project history provides a high-level administrative and contextual overview for each program year, including the political context as well as USAID actions and work plan details, for ease of understanding the scope of i-STREAM: Critical details of FY2014: When the current 5-year i-STREAM project was awarded in October 2013, Internews was operating five stations supported by USAID. Serious conflict erupted in South Sudan month after i-STREAM began. On 15th December 2013, tensions between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir, and supporters of the former VP Riek Machar, clashed on the streets of Juba. South Sudan’s return to war tore communities apart, putting an estimated 4.5 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, causing more than two million people to flee their homes, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of people. In addition to the political upheaval, and a humanitarian disaster, the country also faces a severe economic crisis. As the conflict unfolded, Internews responded immediately, fully implementing the majority of activities as per our agreed objectives. We maintained, and in some cases increased our programming, broadcasting at all five stations (staying on air until the last possible moment as two stations – Nasir and Leer – were destroyed in the fighting). Content was widely accepted as being reliable, accurate and balanced, and provided a critical service to the people of South Sudan. Throughout this volatile period we continued to implement our activities, which include the growth of, and support to, Eye Media, partnerships with other media partners, and activities associated with media law and regulation. At the same time, Internews developed its activities to include the humanitarian sector, providing solutions to the ever-increasing information needs of the population with a series of new activities. Four Humanitarian Information Service (HIS) Boda Boda Talk Talk (BBTT) initiatives were set up - (two in Juba, one in Malakal in Upper Nile, and one in Bor in Jonglei state). In addition, two mobile “radio-in-a- box” stations were established: one in Mingkaman, south of Bor, in Lakes State, and one in Malakal in Upper Nile State, specifically serving internally displaced peoples (IDPs). The community stations, HIS and the mobile radio stations have a combined total audience of nearly one million listeners, and are now the most trusted source of information in their communities. Critical details of FY2015: FY2015 was fraught with challenges. In August 2015, the “Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan” was signed in Juba. Through FY2015, Internews continued with core development activities, focusing heavily on transitioning our largest partner, Eye Media, into a sustainable national, 100% South Sudanese organization. During this time, Eye Radio provided critical coverage of the peace process and the eventual signing of the peace agreement. At the same time, partnerships were developed with humanitarian agencies seeking to connect with populations and share vital information, which could have a direct influence on their lives and livelihoods. On August 24, 2015, USAID issued a modification to the i-STREAM project, increasing the ceiling from $60 million to $75 million USD. Additional activities were incorporated. Support to Eye Media was extended, destroyed stations were rebuilt, additional community radio stations were established, humanitarian projects continued, and solar-powered radio sets were distributed. The modification also replaced the program description in its entirety, to include these new activities and reporting protocols.
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Critical details of FY2016: In June 2016, USAID informally alerted Internews that it would be unlikely that USAID would be able to fully obligate the $75million over 5 years. Internews consequently adjusted its activities and planning to take into account an anticipated $10million shortfall through Sept. 30, 2018, and the possibility of an additional one-year no-cost extension for the balance of the unmet obligation. At USAID’s request, Internews shared a memo with USAID on June 8, 2016, outlining the impact of such shortfalls, and provided a revised projection through the end of the project. In early July 2016, fighting broke out in Juba, fracturing the fragile peace agreement between the SPLA and the SPLA-iO. Over a three-day period, nearly 300 military personnel and civilians were killed in Juba. On 11th July, the compound that housed Internews’ international staff, and the staff of several other organizations, was attacked. Internews staff were threatened at gunpoint, attacked and assaulted and property was looted and destroyed. One Internews staff member was killed at the compound. Internews evacuated relocatable staff from Juba and across the country, and our team setup temporary operations from Nairobi and Kampala to support our local staff, field offices, projects and partners in South Sudan. In 2017, there were 1.7 million international displaced people within South Sudan, and the UN reported that refugees who fled South Sudan had surpassed one million. All of the broadcast outlets that Internews supported in South Sudan continued to air critical news and information during this period. Critical details of FY2017: Due to the severe crisis, the unpredictable security situation, and the rapidly changing environment, planning and programming needed to be flexible and responsive to the situation on the ground. Throughout FY2017, programming continued: the HIS team set up and launched Kondial FM in Bentiu, and continued providing critical information services in Malakal and UN House; the BBTT program in Bor was closed; and under USDOS/BPRM-funded project the HIS team set up and launched JamJang FM. While TRC continued programming and serving their communities, the deterioration of the security environment led to a postponement of their organizational development plans. TRC successfully relocated its station as according to the work plan from Malualkon to Aweil, and stations in Mingkaman, Turalei, and Kapoeta also remained operational.
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ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
AA Albany Associates AAP Accountability to Affected Populations AIRS Abyei Information and Radio Service AMDISS The Association for Media Development in South Sudan AMWISS Association of Media Women in South Sudan ARCSS Agreement for the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan BBC British Broadcasting Cooperation BBTT Boda Boda Talk Talk BPRM Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration CCCM Camp Coordination and Camp Management CCTV Closed-Caption Television CDAC Communicating with Disaster Affected Communities Network CE Central Equitoria CEO Chief Executive Officer CEPO Community Empowerment Progress Organization CoP Chief of Party CRN Community Radio Network (now known as TRC – The Radio Community) CSO Civil Society Organization CwC Communication with Communities DCoP Deputy Chief of Party DEPP Disaster Emergencies Preparedness Programme EBC Equator Broadcasting Cooperation EM Eye Media EO Executive Order ER Eye Radio ERSS Eye Radio Shortwave Service FGD Focus Group Discussion FP Family Planning FPU Free Press Unlimited GBV Gender-Based Violence GESS Girls Education South Sudan GOSS Government of South Sudan HIS Humanitarian Information Service HJT Humanitarian Journalism Trainer HNO Humanitarian Needs Overview HPM Humanitarian Project Manager HQ Headquarters HR Hunan Resources HRC Human Rights Council HRP Humanitarian Response Plan ICWG Inter-Cluster Working Group IDP Internally Displaced Person IGAD Inter-Governmental Authority on Development IOM International Organization for Migration IRC International Rescue Committee i-STREAM Strengthening Free and Independent Media in South Sudan JFL Juba Films Limited JMEC Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Committee LOD Language of the Day
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MA Media Authority MAA Media Authority Act MDI Media Development Institute MERL Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, and Learning department MSF Médecins Sans Frontières NCA National Communication Authority ND National Dialogue NEF National Editor’s Forum NEPWU EyeNational Empowerment of Positive Women United NFI Non-Food Items NGO Non-governmental Organization NLA National Legislative Assembly NSF National Salvation Front NSS National Security Service ODC Other Direct Costs OFAC US Office of Foreign Assets Control OSS Organizational Systems and Standards PAO Public Affairs Officer PoC United Nations Protection of Civilians site or unit PSA Public Service Announcement RPF Regional Protection Force RRP United Nations Relief, Reintegration, and Protection unit SAADO Smile Again Africa Development Organization SATT Seat at the Table SGBC Sexual and Gender-Based Conflict SMT Senior Management Team SNA Social Network Analysis SOP Standard Operating Procedures SPLA-iO Sudan People’s Liberation Army – in Opposition SPLA-iO2 Sudan People’s Liberation Army – in Opposition Two SPLM/A Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army SRH Sexual Reproductive Health SS South Sudan SSBC South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation SSHF South Sudan Humanitarian Fund SSHRDN South Sudan Human Rights Defenders Network SSMSWG South Sudan Media Sector Working Group SSP South Sudan Pound SSRRC South Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission STI Sexually Transmitted Disease THESO The Health Support Organization ToT Training of Trainers TRC The Radio Community UJOSS Union of Journalists of South Sudan UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNICEF United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund UNMISS United Nations Mission in South Sudan UNOCHA United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs UoJ University of Juba USDOS US Department of State VOF Voice of Freedom VSF Vétérinaires Sans Frontières WASH Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene WFP World Food Programme WPFD World Press Freedom Day
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ATTACHMENTS
Attachments from Q1, Q2, and Q3 were submitted with those reports, and are referenced below. Attachments from Q4 are submitted with this report.
Quarter 1 Attachment 1: Success Story – Eye Radio shortwave reaches information poor and beyond Attachment 2: Success Story – South Sudan journalist explores media in US democracy Attachment 3: Success Story – Laying the groundwork for 2017 Juba Film Festival Attachment 4: Success Story – Professional certificate equips South Sudanese journalists Attachment 5: Success Story – Eye Radio uncovers misuse of girls education funds Attachment 6: Success Story – Radio helps community earn more from farming Attachment 7: Success Story – Teaching the World about Solar-South Sudanese Engineer brings sunshine to UK Attachment 8: Success Story - ‘Let the whole world hear our crying’ - Women speak out during 16 Days of Activism Attachment 9: Success Story – Safety First: journalists learn hard and soft skills to stay out of harm's way Attachment 10: Success Story – BBTT partners with VSF to tackle rabies in Bentiu Attachment 11: Success Story – Ambitious News hour show launched on Mingkaman FM Attachment 12: Beneficiary Feedback Report for 2016 HNO-HRP Attachment 13: Solar Powered Transmission in South Sudan - A Case Study Attachment 14: Humanitarian Information Service Weekly e-Bulletin Attachment 15: Media Development Institute Graduation Handbook Attachment 16: Manual of Freedom of Expression Law in South Sudan Attachment 17: Success story - Nile FM covers women's fish market dispute Attachment 18: Success story - ‘Our dream has come to reality’ Jamjang FM brings info to 100K Attachment 19: Success story - On air, and at home, women editors are strong role models for community
Quarter 2 Attachment 20: Success story – 'I was shocked' Radio helps community understand severe hunger of their neighbors Attachment 21: Success story – Artists, drama groups, and women talk peace on community radio Attachment 22: Success story – Journalists donate blood to save life broadcast story to educate community Attachment 23: Success story – Local media organization provides media hub and safe haven to journalists Attachment 24: Learning Collection – Boda Boda Talk Talk Parts 1 and 2 - Context and Case Study Attachment 25: Learning Collection – Boda Boda Talk Talk Parts 3 - How-to-Guide Attachment 26: Journalism Skills Matrix – Manual for Trainers Attachment 27: Journalism Skills Matrix – Training Guide Attachment 28: Journalism Skills Matrix – Assessment Record Book Attachment 29: The Radio Community Editorial Guidelines Attachment 30: Success story – Nile FM covers women's fish market dispute Attachment 31: Success story – ‘Our dream has come to reality’ Jamjang FM brings info to 100K Attachment 32: Success story – On air, and at home, women editors are strong role models for community
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Quarter 3 Attachment 33: Broadcast Coverage Map – Internews Attachment 34: Broadcast Coverage Map – Eye Radio Attachment 35: Organizational Capacity Assessment Report Year 3 – Eye Radio Attachment 36: Informational Brochure – The Radio Community Attachment 37: Informational Brochure – Humanitarian Information Service Attachment 38: Booklet – World Refugee Day Attachment 39: Research – Information Needs Assessment in Unity State Attachment 40: Learning Collection – Radio Distribution Module Part 1 Attachment 41: Learning Collection – Radio Distribution Module Part 2 Attachment 42: Learning Collection – Listening Groups Module Part 1 Attachment 43: Learning Collection – Listening Groups Module Part 2 Attachment 44: Lessons Learned – CDAC-DEPP Exchange Visit Attachment 45: Monthly Bulletin – HIS June 2017 Attachment 46: Success Story – A Lost Boy Steps Up Attachment 47: Success Story – President Salva Kiir Live on Singaita FM
Quarter 4 Attachment 48: Success Story – AIRS a Voice of Peace and Reconciliation Attachment 49: Success Story – Akol Yam Technical and Engineering Capabilities Attachment 50: Success Story – Jamjang Increases Broadcast Hours Attachment 51: Success Story – Juba Films Limited Showcases Local Narratives Attachment 52: Success Story – Kondial FM Partners with UNICEF during World Breastfeeding Week Attachment 53: Success Story – South Sudanese Media Managers Gain Valuable Leadership Skills Attachment 54: Success Story – Mingkaman Radio Association Strengthens Community Links Attachment 55: Success Story – Disabled Women Keeps her Home and Livelihood Following Akol Yam Report Attachment 56: Success Story – Akol Yam Showcases South Sudanese Engineering and Technology Capabilities Attachment 57: TRC Broadcast Continuity Plan Attachment 58: TRC Investment Plan Attachment 59: TRC Technical Strategy Attachment 60: TRC Project and Engineers Schedule Attachment 61: Radio Distribution Report – Aweil Attachment 62: Information Brochure – Eye Media Attachment 63: 2017 Training Matrix Report Attachment 64: Information Brochure – Juba Films Limited Attachment 66: Station Profile – Nile FM Attachment 67: Station Profile – Jamjang FM Attachment 68: Station Profile – Mingkaman FM Attachment 69: Station Profile – Singaita FM Attachment 70: Station Profile – Akol Yam FM Attachment 71: Station Profile – Mayardit FM Attachment 72: Station Profile – Kondial FM
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