A capacity building workshop on tobacco control for journalists and NGO members was held in Freetown, Sierra Leone on 27^th and 28^th June 2011. The overall objective of the training was to give participants the tools to make good use of media in advocating for tobacco control in Sierra Leone. Organized by the African Tobacco Control Alliance (ATCA) and the African Tobacco Control Regional Initiative (ATCRI) with the financial support of Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (CTFK), this workshop was held in the framework of the implementation of the project on “Building Media Capacity for Tobacco Control in seven African countries.” This project is implemented by ATCA for over a year now and has already enabled the training of more than 210 journalists and members of NGOs in seven African countries.

The workshop in Sierra Leone was held at the British Council in Freetown and was attended by 25 journalists and four members of NGOs. The opening ceremony was marked by several interventions. The Chair of the Board of Directors of Action For Development - Sierra Leone Elizabeth Sam thanked ATCA and other partners for the initiative for this workshop. According to her, "actions must be intensified in order to obtain a law specifically dedicated to tobacco control”. “We really need it after the ratification of the FCTC by our country in 2010." In the same vein, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Tobacco Control Alliance Mr. Issah Ali justified the holding of this meeting by the devastating effects of tobacco consumption. "12% of our youth smoke and we cannot continue looking at future generations go to perdition" he said.  In this sense, Mr. Issah said that "the media and NGOs are key actors in the fight against tobacco." As for the Tobacco Control focal point at the Sierra Leonean Ministry of Health, Mr. Sahr Hamor, "We have a good political will in our country. Our government is making efforts. So we must accompany authorities for more actions." He reassured the participants of the support from the Ministry of Health in all their efforts.

  This workshop had three main objectives:
 
- Strengthen the capacities of journalists and NGOs on the FCTC and tobacco control;
 
- Foster a synergy of actions between partners involved in tobacco control in Sierra Leone;
 
- Identify and create a pool of journalists specially dedicated to tobacco control in the country.

The workshop lasted two days and was characterized by presentations, role plays, group works and restitutions. The different sessions were facilitated by MM. Issah Ali, Chairman of ATCA, Atakouna Blaise, Communication Officer of ACTA, Tih Ntiabang Armstrong, Media Advocacy and Communications Coordinator at ATCRI and Ms. M'balu Sesay, Programs Director at "Action For Development-Sierra Leone.”

IOn the first day, the presentations focused on the impact of tobacco on health, economy and environment, the FCTC and obligations of Parties, the main components of a tobacco control law with regards to the FCTC, strategies of the industry, links between tobacco, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and techniques of mainstreaming tobacco in news coverage.

The second day was devoted to how to make effective use of media for advocacy in the field of tobacco control as well as the different strategies and techniques for good reporting on tobacco control. During the group works and plenary sessions, participants raised several concerns to which the facilitators have provided answers. These include how to communicate effectively on the provisions of the FCTC, how to have true and fair information on tobacco and how to involve editors of newspapers in the fight against tobacco so as to increase the number of articles published by journalists . Participants also exchanged views on the creation of a journalists network for tobacco control in Sierra Leone. Following these discussions, they decided to create a network named «Media Alliance for Tobacco Control Sierra Leone». They set up an interim committee of 8 members responsible for conducting all the preliminary steps leading to the institutionalization of the network. This committee is headed by Mr. Daniel Moseray, a journalist at the Sierra Leonean public television SLBC. Certificates of participation were distributed to journalists at the end of the work. The participants also requested the facilitators for the animation of several television and radio programs on various topics related to tobacco control.

The World No Tobacco Day 2011 was marked this Tuesday, May 31, 2011 in Togo by a conference with debate on the theme of the day which is “The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).” Organized by The African Tobacco Control Alliance (ATCA), the Alliance Nationale des Consommateurs et de l’Environnement (ANCE-Togo), and the Journalists Network for Tobacco Control in Togo (REJAT), the conference with debate which was held at Hotel IBIS in Lome, aimed at raising awareness of policy makers about the need to implement the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

The opening ceremony of this conference which was attended by representatives of various ministries, international organizations, NGOs and the media was marked by several speeches. In his opening remarks, the ATCA Executive Secretary, Mr. Ebeh Kodjo Fabrice stressed the importance of the FCTC today in the promotion of health through the struggle against the harmful effects of tobacco consumption. "Tobacco kills, the FCTC is the solution and whoever implements it saves lives," he said. He thanked the government through the Ministry of Health for its commitment and determination in the implementation of the FCTC.

According to the WHO Representative in Togo, Dr Pierre Mpele, "tobacco is the leading cause of preventable illness, disability and death worldwide." "That's why I appreciate the willingness of the highest authorities of Togo in the implementation of the FCTC," he said.

In opening the proceedings of this meeting on behalf of the Minister of Health, the Director General of Health, Dr. Dogbe Sika reiterated the importance of World No Tobacco Day. He thanked WHO, ATCA and ANCE-Togo for their support to the government in tobacco control in Togo. "The tobacco epidemic requires action and we are working with the civil society and partners for practical actions to be undertaken in the fight against this scourge," he concluded before declaring open the events marking the celebration of the World No Tobacco Day in Togo.

This opening ceremony was followed by two presentations.  The first entitled "The impacts of tobacco consumption" was presented by Doctor Djagadou Kodjo from "La Reference" clinic in Lomé. In his speech, the speaker dwelt on the strategies of the tobacco industry in order "to sell a noxious and toxic product", before raising that "in Togo, the health, social, economic and environmental losses due to tobacco use are enormous."  "Cooperation between different actors is needed to defeat this scourge", he said.

The second presentation focused on "The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC)" and was chaired by the ACTA Executive Secretary, Mr Ebeh Kodjo Fabrice. According to him "the FCTC is the first coordinated global effort to reduce tobacco consumption. "Today, this convention has 172 parties and only four African countries have not yet ratified it. After recalling the objectives of the FCTC, Mr. Ebeh noted that "it includes a set of measures to reduce supply and demand of tobacco worldwide." Togo has ratified the FCTC on November 15, 2005 and adopted the tobacco control act on December 29, 2010. According to Mr. Ebeh, "the political will of the Togolese authorities should continue with a strict application of this law" because, "against the danger of tobacco consumption, we know what works and we have the necessary tools for the fight." These two presentations were followed by discussions on all the issues relating to the theme of the World No Tobacco Day and the implementation of the FCTC and the tobacco control act in Togo.

In the framework of the implementation of the project on building media capacity on tobacco control, the African Tobacco Control Alliance (ATCA) with the financial support of the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (CTFK) is still organizing workshops in african countries. The journalists and NGOs training in Gabon was held at the head office of the Gabonese journalists Network for Population from the 15th to 16th March 2011. 18 journalists and 8 NGO members attended this workshop. The opening ceremony was presided over by the tobacco control Focal Point at the Gabonese Ministery of Health, Dr. Alphonse Louma Eyougah. He reminded participants that Gabon ratified the FCTC in 2009 and a tobacco control bill is actually being prepared. For this bill to be passed by the parliament there is a need of strong advocacy campaigns. Journalists and NGOs can thus be very useful in this process. This is why he thanked ATCC for this workshop and asked participants to carefully follow the presentations in the agenda of this workshop. After these opening remarks, there was a presentation on the objectives of this workshop. The workshop aimed at the following objectives:

• Raise the level of awareness on the FCTC and tobacco control policy in Gabon.
• Enhance journalists and NGOs capacities on tobacco control in Gabon.
• Facilitate alliance building amongst different tobacco control stakeholders in Gabon.
• Identify and create a pool of journalists and NGOs with special dedication to tobacco control issues in the country.
• Create an opportunity to enhance relationships between tobacco control advocates and the media in Gabon.

The workshop was conducted in two days and was characterized by presentations in the form of lectures, plenary sessions and group works.

The first day focused on facts about tobacco and its impact on health, economy and environment; policy, the FCTC and obligations of parties; the links between tobacco, MDGs and NCDs; the strategies of the tobacco industry and techniques for mainstreaming tobacco in news coverage. The second day was focused on media advocacy, elements of good reporting, the use of statistics in writing tobacco control stories, the necessity of a collaboration between journalists and NGOs in tobacco control activities in Gabon and the different opportunities offered by ATCC to journalists and NGOs i.e. Tobacco Control Journalists Network Grants and Tobacco Control Action Grants.

At the end of this workshop, participants promised through their recommandations to undertake the following actions:

• Write and publish more stories on tobacco control in Gabon
• Maintain good relationships between journalists and NGOs so as to unable better tobacco control actions.
• Strongly advocate to make the tobacco control bill passed by the Gabonese parliament.
• Assist the gabonese governement in all tobacco control actions which will be undertaken

Closing the workshop on behalf of the Minister of health, Dr. Alphonse Louma, Focal Point for tobacco control in Gabon encouraged media practitioners to intensify their reporting in tobacco control so as to raise the awareness of the population and decision makers on the devastating effects of tobacco. The President of “People’s Health Movement-Gabon” Mr Tanguy Nzue Obame invited media practitioners to be professional in reporting on tobacco control matters, especially in this period when there is a tobacco control bill pending.

In Uganda, the journalists and NGOs worksop was held in Grand Imperial Hotel in Kampala from the 22nd to 23rd February 2011. There were 19 journalists and 10 NGO members.
 At the opening of the training, Dr. Shiela Ndwanabandi, Focal Point for tobacco control at the Ugandese ministery of Health thanked ATCC for this project which will surely enhance the quality of tobacco control actions in Uganda. She invited participants to carefully pay attention to all the presentations so as to enhance their knowledge in tobacco control. After these introductory remarks, the objectives of the workshop were presented to participants. The workshop aimed at:

• Raising the level of awareness of participants on the FCTC and tobacco control legislation and policy in Uganda
• Enhance journalists and NGOs capacities on tobacco control in Uganda.
• Facilitate alliance building amongst different tobacco control stakeholders in the country.
• Identify and create a pool of journalists with special dedication to tobacco control issues.
• Create an opportunity to enhance relationships between tobacco control advocates and the media in Uganda.

The workshop was conducted in two days and was characterized by presentations in the form of lectures, plenary sessions and group works.
On the first day, presentations focused on facts about tobacco and its impacts on health, economy and environment, policy and legislation in Uganda, the FCTC and obligations of parties, tobacco, MDGs and NCDs; mainstreaming tobacco in news coverage and an introduction to media advocacy.
The second day of the workshop came back on media advocacy with a focus on how to efficiently use media in Uganda for advocacy on tobacco control, elements of good reporting, the use of statistics on tobacco to write stories, and the different opportunities offered by ATCC to journalists and NGOs i.e. Tobacco Control Journalists Network Grants as well as Tobacco Control Action Grants. The participants were told that these grants aim at strengthening tobacco control policies in African countries through NGOs and media and help in the implementation of FCTC. This will be efficiently achieved through TC advocates and journalists networks in the different countries.

During group works, participants discussed many issues such as how to strengthen relationships between journalists and NGOs for better tobacco control actions in Uganda and how to set up a communication strategy to push a policy forward.
In their resolutions after this workshop, participants agreed on:

• The necessity for Ugandan journalists to gather in a movement for tobacco control.
• The necessity for medias to write more stories on tobacco control
• The necessity of a strong partnership between journalists and NGOs in Uganda

The workshop was closed by M. Gilbert Muyambi, General Secretary of the Ugandan National Tobacco Control Association. He urged the media and NGOs to make proper use of all the information they got during the workshop so as to push forward tobacco control in Uganda.

With the financial support of the Norwegian Cancer Society (NCS), the African Tobacco Control Alliance (ATCA) has send a high level delegation to Lusaka, Zambia from 15th to 17th of February 2011 to meet the Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) authorities, health authorities, WHO representative, journalists and other TC stakeholders of the region. This delegation lobbied the Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) authorities on the need to implement and enforce the articles 9 and 10 of the FCTC. The general objective of the activity is to protect the health of the populations living within COMESA against the harmful effects of tobacco use by promoting the integration of tobacco control in the developmental agendas within the region.
The specific objectives of the visit are:

• To address the misconception that has been created about articles 9 and 10 of the FCTC and its impact on African tobacco farming.
• To bring COMESA authorities to reconsider their position against the guidelines on articles 9 and 10 of the FCTC
• To promote the integration of tobacco control in developmental agendas in COMESA

The following activities have been undertaken:

• Meeting with the ministry of Health of Zambia
• Meeting with WHO Zambia Focal Person in Lusaka
• Meeting with COMESA authorities in COMESA headquarters
• Press briefing with 30 journalists and NGOs in Zambia

The following persons have attended the meetings:

• Rachel KITONYO, Chair, African Tobacco Control Alliance (ATCA), Chair of the visit
• Ms Kokulinda Kagaruki LUTGARD, Director, The Tanzania Tobacco Control Forum (TTCF)
• Muyunda ILILONGA, Director of Zambia Consumer Association (ZACA)
• Patrick MUSAVULI, Regional Coordinator, the Framework Convention Alliance (FCA)
• Adeola AKINREMI, Resource Centre Coordinator, the Africa Tobacco Control Regional Initiative(ATCRI)
• Mamadou Bamba SAGNA, Development Campaign Coordinator, the African Tobacco Control Alliance(ATCA)

Thanks to a financial support from the Campaign for Tobacco Free-Kids (CTFK), ATCA is implementing a 2 year project to train journalists and tobacco control advocates in 7 countries in Africa on the use of media for tobacco control. The title of the project is: “Building media capacity for tobacco control in 7 countries in Africa”. The project aims at building media capacity for tobacco control so as to increase the quantity and quality of tobacco control stories in the targeted 7 African countries. Four workshops have already been held last year in Botswana, Sénégal, DRC and Ethiopia. These workshops will be organized in three other countries this year.

The project has the following objectives:

• To train journalists and tobacco control advocates in 7 countries on the use of media for tobacco control
• To set up and strengthen tobacco control journalists’ networks in the 7 countries

This project intend to contribute to activities being carried out by the African Tobacco Control Consortium (ATCC) in the field of tobacco control in Africa.

In Botswana, the workshop was held at CRESTA PRESIDENT Hotel in Gaborone on the 15th and 16th September 2010. Twenty (20) journalists and twelve (12) NGO members attended this two days workshop. At the opening of the training, Ms Bontle Mbongwe, local facilitator thanked ATCC for this project which will surely enhance the quality of tobacco control actions in Botswana. She invited participants to carefully pay attention to all the presentations so as to enhance their knowledge in tobacco control. According to Ms Bontle, the workshop aimed at the following objectives:

• Raise the level of awareness on the FCTC and tobacco legislation and policy in Botswana
• Enhance journalists and NGOs capacities on tobacco control in Botswana.
• Facilitate alliance building amongst different tobacco control stakeholders in Botswana.
• Identify and create a pool of journalists with special dedication to tobacco control issues.
• Create an opportunity to enhance relationships between tobacco control advocates and the media in Botswana.

The workshop was conducted in two days and was characterized by presentations in the form of lectures, plenary sessions and group works.
On the first day, presentations focused on facts about tobacco and its impacts on health, economy and environment, policy and legislation in Botswana, the situational analysis of tobacco control in Botswana, the FCTC and obligations of parties, tobacco control and MDGs in Africa with a focus on Botswana, mainstreaming tobacco in news coverage and media advocacy.
The second day of the workshop came back on media advocacy with a focus on how to efficiently use media in Botswana for advocacy in tobacco control, elements of good reporting, COP 4 and Tobacco Control Journalists Network Grants as well as Tobacco Control Action Grants. The participants were told that these grants aim at strengthening tobacco control policies in African countries through NGOs and media and help in the implementation of FCTC. This will be efficiently achieved through TC advocates and journalists networks in the different countries. Journalists’ network grants will be awarded in 2010 and 2011 for an amount of $ 10,000. The conditions to be fulfilled for each country to get this grants are:

• Need for media advocacy to support ongoing policy change
• Presence of a Tobacco Control Journalists Network
• Presence of a strong NGO in the country who can assist with convening the journalists and link up with them afterward to feed them information.

Apart from these grants which will go to journalists’ networks, we also have Investigative reporting for an amount of $3600 which will be granted from 2011 to 2014. This award will go to individual journalists who will show special commitment to the tobacco control issues through investigative journalism.

Some other issues were discussed by participants during group works: how to strengthen relationships between journalists and NGOs for better tobacco control actions in the country as well as violations of the Botswana Control of Smoking Act (CSA) of 1992 and how to remedy to these violations.
Participants recommended the following:

• There is an urgent need to form a network of journalists in Botswana.
• There is need to train more journalists and NGOs in Botswana on tobacco control
• Funding should be made available to facilitate follow-up training
• The media should write stories that would expose the tobacco industry with regard to its interference in tobacco control efforts in Botswana.

The workshop was closed by the WHO Representative in Botswana Dr. Eugene Nyarko. He urged the media and NGOs to make use of the opportunities to fight the tobacco war, including diseases like cancer, respiratory diseases and cardiovascular diseases.

In Sénégal, the workshop was held at Hotel Faidherbe in Dakar on the 5th and 6th October 2010. Eighteen (18) journalists and twelve (12) NGO members attended the workshop. At the opening of the training, Mr Oumar NDAO, focal point for tobacco control actions in the Senegalese Ministry of Health thanked ATCC for this project which will surely enhance the quality of tobacco control actions in Senegal. And the objectives of the workshop were presented to participants. These objectives are:

• Raise the level of awareness on the FCTC and tobacco legislation and policy in Senegal
• Enhance journalists and NGOs capacities on tobacco control in Senegal.
• Identify and create a pool of journalists and NGOs with special dedication to tobacco control issues.
• Create an opportunity to enhance relationships between tobacco control advocates and the media in Senegal.

The workshop was conducted in two days and was characterized by presentations in the form of lectures, plenary sessions and group works.

The first day focused on facts about tobacco and its impact on health, economy and environment, the situation of tobacco control legislation in Senegal, the FCTC, the strategies of the tobacco industry in Senegal, tobacco and MDGs and mainstreaming tobacco in news coverage.
The second day was on media advocacy, elements of good reporting, the COP 4 and Tobacco Control Journalists Network Grants and Tobacco Control Action Grants. These grants aim at strengthening tobacco control policies in African countries through NGOs and media and help in the implementation of FCTC. This will be efficiently achieved through TC advocates and journalists networks in the different countries. Journalists’ network grants will be awarded in 2010 and 2011 for an amount of $10,000. The conditions to be fulfilled to get this grant are:

• Need for media advocacy to support ongoing policy change
• Presence of a Tobacco Control Journalists Network
• Presence of a strong NGO in the country who can assist with convening the journalists and link up with them afterward to feed them information.

Apart from these grants which will go to journalists’ networks, we also have Investigative reporting for an amount of $3600 which will be granted from 2011 to 2014.

Participants recommended the following:

• There is an urgent need to form a network of journalists in Senegal. And just at the end of the workshop, Senegalese journalists created a network named «Association des journalistes sénégalais de lutte contre le tabac» (AJSLT)
• There is need to train more journalists and NGOs in Senegal on tobacco control
• Funding should be made available to facilitate follow-up training
• The media should write stories that would expose the tobacco industry with regard to its interference on tobacco control efforts in Senegal.