PSAf trains journalists on promoting prisoners rights

Panos Institute Southern Africa (PSAf) is conducting a media training to enhance mainstream and community media’s role in raising awareness, promoting advocacy and stimulating debates on the rights and living conditions of prisoners and circumstantial children in Zambia.

The training is part of the Prisoners’ Rights are Human Rights Project, which PSAf is implementing in partnership with Development Aid from People to People (DAPP), through funding from the European Union Delegation in Zambia.

The objectives of the training are:

1. Train the community media practitioners from Serenje and Mkushi, Mpika and Chinsali, Samfya and Mansa Districts as well as mainstream media on the living conditions in prisons
2. To raise awareness on the gaps identified to ensure better policy implementation in prisons.
3. To enhance understanding of the prisoners’ rights as human rights as well as tackling the policy implementation gaps in protecting and respecting prisoners’ rights and access to services.

During the training, PSAf will share the findings of a study to assess the living conditions of prisoners and circumstantial children in Zambia. This will enable the media to raise awareness on the impact of the living conditions on the right to health, and stimulate debate and discussions around the issues. It is the hope of PSAf that the media driven debates and discussions would lead to change of policies that would ensure protection of the right to health by prisoners and circumstantial children.

This training is expected to strengthen the participating media practitioners appreciation of the rights and living conditions for prisoners, and equip them with skills to effectively provide platforms for raising awareness, promoting advocacy and stimulating debates.