Deadline: October 17, 2021
Applications are open for the United Nations LDC5 Journalism Fellowship 2021. The LDC5 journalism fellowship is being carried out by the United Nations Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS) in partnership with the Thomson Reuters Foundation (TRF).
The Fellowship aims to develop a stronger discipline of development journalism throughout the LDCs and prepare LDC journalists to report on the 5th UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5) that will take place from January 23-27, 2022 in Doha, Qatar.
The program’s purpose is to equip a cohort of selected journalists throughout the LDCs with better reporting skills, so that people living in these countries are aware of global decisions being made on their behalf, can connect multilateral processes to their own lives and can hold decision makers to account.
Benefits
Selected Fellows will:
- Take part in an online training program by region.
- Be offered the opportunity to travel and participate in the LDC5 conference in Doha, Qatar.
- Take part in a 2-day in-person workshop with TRF trainers at LDC5.
- Receive guidance from TRF trainers for the duration of LDC5.
- One outstanding fellow will be selected for a fully-funded fellowship in the autumn of 2022 at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University.
Eligibility
- Open to journalists with a minimum of five years of experience and a good level of spoken and written French or English who are reporting in any of the 46 Least Developed Countries.
- Applicants must have a passport for international travelling valid until January 2023 (at least).
- Applications must include proof that the applicant is working for local media and publishing for local audiences. In the case of freelance journalists, proof of regular publication by a recognized local media is required.
Selection Criteria
- UN-OHRLLS will determine the successful applications based on: geographical balance, gender balance, quality of published stories and proof of employment in a recognized media outlet. The selection of successful applicants shall be final and no correspondence or discussion shall be entered into.
Application
- Applications must include a letter signed by the journalist’s editor, acknowledging the application and granting permission for the journalist to attend the six days of training (approx. four hours/day).
- Applications must include a link to two stories (print, web, TV, radio) published by the applicant, with their byline visible. Stories must have been carried by a local media outlet within the last 12 months. For stories published in media outlets without an online presence, scanned copies of the story (for radio, a transcribed copy of the story in English or French including date of transmission) will suffice.
- Stories should cover development issues related to LDCs including, but not limited to: climate change, trade, women’s empowerment, poverty reduction, health, education, peace and justice, food security etc.
- Stories can be submitted in any language. Stories in languages other than English and French must be accompanied by an English translation.
For more information, visit UN LDC5.
