iWatch Africa call for applications: illicit finance training – Accra
Training Dates: Monday, 29th April to Friday 3rd May 2024 | Location: Accra, Ghana
Application deadline: April 21, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. GMT
iWatch Africa
iWatch Africa is a non-governmental media and policy organization focused on transparency and accountability based in Ghana. We are focused on media development initiatives including tracking and reporting on digital rights, trans-national organized crime, Illicit Financial Flows, human rights abuse, climate change and environmental abuses in Africa. We are part of Thomson Reuters Foundation’s 3-year project on Illicit Financial Flows in Africa, focusing on Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Mozambique and Ghana.
About the Thomson Reuters Foundation
The Thomson Reuters Foundation is the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, a global provider of independent international news and information. As an independent charity, registered in the UK and US, we work to advance media freedom, foster more inclusive economies and promote human rights. And through news, media development, free legal assistance and advocacy initiatives, we combine our media and legal services to drive systemic change.
We are accepting applications on a rolling basis, please apply as soon as possible.
With financial support from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), iWatch Africa and Thomson Reuters Foundation is seeking Ghana journalists motivated to understand how their country and/or other countries of the African continent could lose money illicitly. This training objective is to find Africa’s missing billions, lost to illicit financial flows (IFF) through investigative reporting.
The program is a long-term commitment and journalists participating in the program must sign an agreement that commits them to the following elements of the training program:
• Intensive training on illicit financing reporting.
• The first workshop will take place from Monday, 29th April to Friday 3rd May 2024 (5 days) in Accra.
• A second workshop will take place a few weeks after the first training in Accra – TBD.
Participants selected for the program will:
• Produce and publish one or more articles on illicit financial flows.
• Receive mentoring and editorial support to help them produce the story/stories.
Journalists will not be considered to have completed the program until they have completed all elements of the program, including the production of at least one article on illicit financial flows. They will also not be able to receive their certificates before this stage.
PROGRAM BENEFITS
• If selected, you will participate in two intensive workshops covering illicit finance, business investigations, accounts and budgets, and investigative techniques. The workshops will take place in Accra.
• You will propose one or more story ideas that you would like to work on as part of the program and if you are selected, we will provide you with experienced journalists to help you produce your stories through to publication/broadcast.
• If you are selected, you will receive modest funding to help you realize your stories.
• You will have exclusive access to the expertise of our network of illicit financing experts.
• You will also have access to story ideas and editorial advice and will be invited to share your own expertise with other participants.
Successful applicants will receive full sponsorship which will cover accommodation and meals.
Who Can Apply
Application deadline: April 20, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. GMT.
We are accepting applications on a rolling basis, please apply as soon as possible.
Interested journalists should provide:
• A link to a sample of your work (copy of published articles, if links are not available).
• If your sample is published in the local language, please provide us with an English translation (if the link is online, please share it so the web page can be translated).
• A letter from your editor consenting to your participation in the program and confirming that they will publish your story produced under the program. If you are a freelancer, please provide us with a commitment from your media outlet confirming that your story will be published.
• For example, the letter should say “I confirm that we will publish the story produced under the program.”
• If the letter from your editor or press organization does not explicitly state this, we will not be able to consider your application.
Please prepare all your documents before starting the application.
Please note that acceptance to the program does not mean that your story proposal has been approved. If you are accepted, the story proposal will be reviewed by our editorial team before approval.
Click on the link below to apply:
https://forms.gle/KwhSxFs1faAHwnbL9
If you have difficulty applying, please email info@iwatchafrica.org with the subject: ‘Ghana IFFs Training Program 2024’ – We cannot guarantee a rapid response if this subject is not mentioned.
