by Singy Hanyona – SANF 05 no 43
Media practitioners in southern Africa are developing guidelines for ethical reporting on HIV and AIDS and gender, a recognition of the role of information in the response to the pandemic.
The guidelines are part of a two-year programme designed by the Southern African Editors Forum (SAEF) to encourage ethical reporting on HIV and AIDS as well as assist media houses to develop their own policies.
“Only 20 percent of media houses in southern Africa have HIV and AIDS policies, yet journalists are also part of the society which is affected by the pandemic,” said Deputy Chairperson of the regional editors’ forum, Joe Thloe.
The guidelines were the subject of discussion at a Southern African Development Community (SADC) media workshop, held in April in Johannesburg.
SADC said in a statement after the workshop that the guidelines are meant to “guide regional media institutions in regulating the manner in which the media reports on the epidemic”.
Organised in collaboration with the Southern African Editors Forum, the workshop was also aimed at appraising senior editors on policies that SADC has in dealing with the disease. These include the Maseru Declaration on HIV and AIDS adopted by SADC leaders in 2003 in Lesotho, and the related SADC HIV and AIDS Strategic Framework and Programme of Action 2003-2008.
Addressing the Johannesburg consultative workshop, SADC’s Deputy Executive Secretary, Albert Muchanga said the challenges posed by the pandemic on the media industry in the region are daunting.
“We need to eradicate this pandemic from our region. We must also realise that speaking about HIV and AIDS is a point of pride and not embarrassment,” said Muchanga.
Muchanga said in furthering the Maseru declaration, SADC has created an HIV and AIDS Unit at the Secretariat in Botswana, which is in the process of establishing a regional trust fund to mobilise and avail resources needed to fight the challenges at hand.
“We have reached the stage of operationalising these policy statements through the development of a five-year SADC Business Plan on HIV and AIDS,” Muchanga added.
The media practitioners undertook to implement the Southern African Editors Forum’s action plan of November 2004, which calls for protection of the media and workers from the impacts of HIV and AIDS.
The meeting also resolved that at least 80 percent of media institutions in the region should have workplace-based policies and programmes by the end of 2006. This is in line with the SADC policies and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Code of Conduct on HIV, AIDS and Employment.
The objective of the two organisations is to have a common vision and responsibility from both employees and employers.
The regional editors forum acknowledges the relationship between gender and HIV and AIDS and its impact on the media in the region. The forum recognises the need for gender-sensitive ethical guidelines for reporting on HIV and AIDS especially since women and young people are increasingly bearing the brunt of the pandemic in the region.
According to SADC, women account for close to 60 percent of all adult infections. Among people younger than 24 years, girls and young women make up nearly two-thirds of those living with HIV. In fact, young people between the ages of 15 to 24 years account for more than 50 percent of all new infections in the region.
The media industry is better placed to investigate and shape the attitudes of people towards the pandemic, said SAEF chairperson, Rob Jamieson.
“We as journalists have the mandate to promote information on prevention, stigma and discrimination, care treatment and gender violence,” said Jamieson.
In a brief on the HIV and AIDS situation in the region, Director of Social and Human Development and Special Programmes at the SADC Secretariat, Stephen Sianga, said poverty and the general lack of access to information has a huge impact in the fight against the pandemic.
The challenges of HIV and AIDS in the region are still evident as the number of people living with the disease continues to rise, said Sianga.
To encourage the media to play an active role in disseminating information on the pandemic, SADC has chosen HIV and AIDS as the theme for the 2006 SADC Media Awards. Nominations can be sent to the National Adjudication Committee in each member state.
Announcing the 2006 SADC Media Awards, Chairperson of the Regional Adjudication Committee, Roukaya Kasenally, said given that SADC is the epicentre of HIV and AIDS, it is critical that information about the pandemic is disseminated robustly to the people in the region.
“We should not forget that the media itself is affected like any other sector in our region,” said Kasenally. (SARDC)
