Organization: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, International Center for Journalists
Registration deadline: 19 Oct 2015
Starting date: 01 Feb 2016
Ending date: 31 Dec 2016
The world has made major progress on HIV, notably in sub-Saharan Africa, where the HIV burden is greatest. Increased access to lifesaving treatment and prevention options has led to a steady decline in AIDS-related deaths and HIV incidence. Efforts are underway to build on these gains and expand access to proven tools, including approaches that protect vulnerable populations by preventing new HIV infections.
Ten years ago, researchers first demonstrated that Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) reduces the risk of female-to-male HIV transmission by nearly 60 percent. In 2007, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) issued recommendations to implement VMMC in settings with high HIV prevalence and low male circumcision prevalence.
Modeling studies show that rapidly expanding access to VMMC in high-priority countries in East and Southern Africa could prevent an estimated 3.4 million new HIV infections. By the end of 2014, more than 9 million men had chosen to be medically circumcised, an unprecedented rate of uptake in HIV prevention.
However, local and national efforts to scale up VMMC are relatively underreported in priority country media.
ICFJ, in conjunction with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, announces the HIV Prevention Reporting Fellowship. This opportunity is aimed at better equipping journalists with the knowledge and skills to report on VMMC and its implementation as an HIV prevention method.
Journalists from Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe are encouraged to apply for this fellowship.
Applicants are asked to submit proposed story ideas/reporting projects related to VMMC, with the understanding that the fellowship will help prepare selected applicants for reporting on the topic. ICFJ will also offer a webinar for potential applicants to ask experts their questions about VMMC and the program. This webinar is scheduled to take place in September, and information about the webinar will be posted here.
Following the webinar and the application deadline, a committee of judges will select 20 contest finalists for further mentorship on the topic. The 20 finalists will take part in an intensive 4-day story lab in Nairobi, Kenya, in February 2016. The lab will include briefings on VMMC and HIV prevention, as well as sessions on journalism skill-building, site visits and one-on-one mentoring sessions.
Upon completion of the boot camp, the fellows will have two months to complete their reporting projects, while working with ICFJ mentors throughout the process. The three best published stories will be selected to take part in a study tour in the United States in late 2016.The study tour will focus more generally on HIV prevention methods, building on the participants’ knowledge of VMMC.
Timeline:
Application webinar: September 17
Application deadline: October 19
Kenya Boot Camp participant selection: November
Story lab in Nairobi, Kenya: February 2016
Mentorship for stories: February-April 2016
Publishing deadline: April 2016
U.S. Study Tour participant selection: May 2016
U.S. study tour: Late 2016
How to register:
TO APPLY FOR THE PROGRAM, PLEASE CLICK HERE.
For information on this program in Portuguese, please click here.
Contact Information
Johanna Carrillo
Senior Program Director
jcarrillo@icfj.org
Lyndsey Wajert
Program Manager
lwajert@icfj.org