UN commits to uphold partnership with Malawi media

The interface meeting the UN had with the Editors Forum

* The media has helped to raise the profile of the UN in Malawi and across the globe that came out clearly during Cyclone Freddy disaster

* Was very instrumental when UN country team rolled out response, recovery and rebuilding programmes to survivors

By Arnold Namanja, MANA

United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator in Malawi, Rebecca Adda-Dontoh has pledged continued commitment to uphold the existing partnership between UN agencies and the media.

Dontoh made the remarks on Sunday during an interface meeting with the Editors Forum from Blantyre Chapter, saying the UN enjoys enormous support in terms of publicity for its various programmes due to the sound partnership with the local media.

She said the media has helped to raise the profile of the UN in Malawi and across the globe because of the partnership that exists between the two parties, noting: “One example that comes out clearly is during the Tropical Cyclone Freddy where the UN country team rolled out response, recovery and rebuilding programmes to survivors of the disaster.

“The media was very instrumental in that regard,” she said, adding that the UN values the space that the media, editors in particular occupy in the implementation of various programmes meant to compliment government efforts of improving living standards of people in the country.

Dontoh, therefore, assured the media fraternity that the UN would continue to provide support to the sector through capacity building and sustaining support to UN Media Institute for Southern Africa (MISA) awards category.

However, Dontoh encouraged the Editors Forum to develop workplan which can be used as a ‘shopping window’ for the UN to channel its support through strategic partnerships in the implementation of programmes and collaboration in activities across the country.

“The cooperation framework is a two-way street where the UN is providing support for various development programmes in maternal and child health, education, water and sanitation while the media takes its role of communicating the interventions to citizens for their action,” she said.

One of the members for Blantyre Editors Forum Chapter, Wycliff Njiragoma commended the UN country team for reaching out to the editors, saying the interface was an important platform for renewing the cooperation between the media and UN agencies.

“The media industry is very dynamic, we have some reporters who are just joining the profession from various training institutions which calls for balancing the standards for equitable opportunities, that is why I would like to commend the UN for conducting training sessions for reporters in different beats,” Njiragoma said.

He however, appealed to the UN country team to share with the Editors Forum the annual calendar of events so that the media can plan ahead for coverage of such activities; “unlike getting impromptu invitations which quite often is not effective”.

In his remarks, member of the MISA Malawi Chapter’s National Governing Council, Nathan Majawa hailed the UN for supporting MISA Malawi with awards in the Sustainable Development Goals category since 2018.           

Some of the UN agencies that had representation during the interface meeting included the United Nations Development Programme, the World Health Organisation, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the World Food Programme.