The East African Community (EAC) in collaboration with the Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), formerly known as GTZ, will organize the first-ever training on Reporting on Regional Integration.

According to a statement released, yesterday, by the bloc’s Secretariat, the training is scheduled to take place from 10 to 16 April this year in Arusha, Tanzania.

Owora Richard Othieno, the EAC Head of Department of Corporate Communication and Public Affairs, said the training programme will bring together 25 journalists selected from all the EAC Partner States.

"Five scribes working in newspapers, magazines, online publications, news agencies, radios and televisions will be selected in each member country,” he added.

Othieno stressed that journalists will undergo a one-week intensive training on regional integration reporting drawing massively from the EAC experience.

The programme aims at enhancing journalists’ understanding of the concept of social, economic and political regional integration in general and the history, organs and institutions and policies of the EAC in particular, thus improving the quality of reporting on EAC matters within the region.

"The programme will enable participants to exchange and share knowledge and experience as well as giving the opportunity for regional networking. We need to create that critical mass of journalists specializing in regional reporting on EAC and this is the first step in that direction,” he expounded.

He stated that the EAC Secretariat has a role of empowering the media in the region so that they report or write about the integration issues from an informed position.

The workshop will lay the foundation for further training and networking activities focusing on regional integration issues in East Africa.

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