Training

Reporting development goals in Syria

Forty Syrian journalists took part in a six-day workshop organised by the AFP Foundation in Damascus from August 25 to 30.

Foundation Director Robert Holloway acted as coordinator for a team of eight trainers working in radio, television, print and photography. All the courses were in Arabic.

The trainees were selected from more than 140 applicants by the United Nations Development Programme, which financed the workshop.

The objective was to deepen journalists' understanding of the UN's Millennium Development Goals and to improve reporting on projects in Syria aimed at achieving them.

The first two days consisted of a refresher course in journalism, including interviewing techniques, developing a story idea and the correct use of statistics, as well as technical instruction for photographers and audio-visual reporters.

On the third day, the trainees split into four mixed groups to visit development projects in villages in Homs governorate, about 180 kilometres north of the capital. These included a women's literacy class, a clinic, an information technology centre and an irrigation system.

After a day spent editing their work, the participants visited four other centres in and around Damascus, including a camp for Iraqi refugees, a school to train deaf mutes to work with computers and centre for Palestinian youth.

The final day was spent editing the later reports before a wrap-up session in which each group explained the lessons it had learned during the week and selected the best examples of its work. These are illustrated here.

After the course each trainee received a DVD containing the training material and the work which he or she had done.