Deadline extended: applications for CRIC17 media training
MEDIA TRAINING
January 26-27, 2019
Georgetown, Guyana
Call for Applications from Journalists from the Caribbean
Application deadline extended to 17 December 2018
Overview
At the invitation of the Government of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, the seventeenth session of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC 17) will take place in Georgetown, Guyana from January 28-30, 2019. The meeting will be held at Guyana International Conference Centre/ Arthur Chung Conference Centre.
The UNCCD secretariat invites applications from environmental journalists from the Caribbean region with an interest in covering the issues of land degradation, desertification and drought to participate in the meeting. For details, see https://bit.ly/2P3xefp.
Prior to the conference, UNCCD in collaboration with the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission will conduct a two-day media training on 26-27 January 2019 for ALL journalists covering the conference. Through a competitive selection process, the UNCCD will award scholarships for the participation of talented journalists from CARICOM who have demonstrated interest in covering the subject. The application deadline is midnight, Central Standard Time, 17 December 2018. The terms and conditions are set out below.
Objectives
- Provide full coverage of CRIC17, as well as to conduct interviews with various country representatives and the Convention’s stakeholders.
- Increase knowledge/ media coverage about the challenges of land degradation and best practices of sustainable land management throughout the world.
- Raise awareness about the conference and the recommendations to COP14, which will be made from the three-day conference.
- Build a global community of journalists, writing regularly about combating desertification, land degradation and mitigating the effects of drought.
Rationale
Desertification, land degradation and drought undermine livelihoods, particularly for rural people who depend on the land for their livestock, crops, water, energy needs, and jobs. In just under two decades from 1993-2013, 20% of the land showed persistent loss of vegetation. Land degradation and desertification are major threats to life on earth. They have a negative effect on 3.2 billion people worldwide, and 1.3 billion people are living on degrading land.
However, practical solutions exist and more than 2 million hectares of the degraded land is suitable for rehabilitation through forest and landscape restoration. Land rehabilitation and restoration offer opportunities to reduce poverty, increase food production, reduce the effects of climate change and conserve biodiversity. In 2015, governments all over the world committed to strive to achieve a land degradation neutral (LDN) world, and adopted Sustainable Development Goal 15.3, target 3. Achieving LDN will ensure that every hectare of land that is degraded is offset by restoring a hectare of degraded land, ideally in the same ecosystem.
Mass media is powerful tool for shaping public opinion, reaching out to the public and promoting innovation. By covering CRIC 17, journalists will have an opportunity to interact with the world’s most renowned experts on these issues that are gathered in Georgetown for the week. It will be an opportune moment too, for journalists to report on the outcomes of the Conference, where experts and researchers will focus on a number of emerging issues such as the actual scope of land degradation globally, the management of drought and sand and dust storms, and progress in promoting gender equality. The Committee will propose the recommendations that governments should take when they meet for the Conference of Parties (COP) towards the end of 2019.
Eligibility
Applications for sponsorship to attend the media training and cover CRIC17 are open to all journalists from the Caribbean region who report on environmental and/or environmental economics issues. Prospective candidates should submit, in English: - Two by-lined articles (print, online, radio or TV reports), at least one of which is on the topics of land degradation, drought and/or desertification. Articles written in a language other than English should be accompanied by a short summary in English. (Social media specialists will be considered depending on the size of their following and/or demonstrable thematic interest in the subject) - A support letter from the journalists’ supervising editor, committing to publish the articles about the meeting provided by journalist - A one-page motivation letter from the applicant:
- Setting out the journalist’s interest in taking part in the conference
- Outlining previous reporting on the topics listed above
- Stating the number of articles, s/he will publish following the conference as well as the provisional time for publication.
Media training Overview and Program
Selected journalists will participate in 2-day workshop, which will be conducted by the UNCCD and the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC). The training will focus heavily on the issues, which are expected to be raised during the conference. The workshop will be held on the 26-27 January 2019. The workshop will be conducted jointly by the UNCCD and Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission, with the former taking the lead on the first day and the latter on the second day.
Sponsorship
The costs for accommodation, airfare, meals and transportation in Guyana will be covered by the UNCCD. Participants will be issued with invitation letters, as required, for visa and other travel purposes, but participants will be responsible for making the necessary travel arrangements, including visas, health certificates and travel insurance. To this end, the organizers will confirm the sponsorship of the journalist selected no later than 20 December 2018. Local and foreign journalists based in Guyana are not eligible for sponsorship.
Applications should be emailed to: press@unccd.int with the subject: CRIC17 Sponsorship.
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Source: UNCCD
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