IFRC promoting 'good news' on Africa

The official launch will take place in South Africa, however the initiative is also global and will be presented to international media based in Geneva.

The main objective of "Believe in Africa" is to highlight the need to work together with the media and other humanitarian organisations to promote more positive reporting on Africa, which is often described as a continent of war and poverty. The IFRC is facing the same dilemma as journalists when issuing press releases focusing on disasters in Africa. “Believe in Africa” aims to also acknowledge and better promote the contribution being made on a daily basis at the community level. The initiative plans on emphasising the positive stories and experiences being recorded by the Red Cross Red Crescent in Africa.

A survey report asking for the opinion of high-level policy-makers in more than 30 donor governments and commissioned by the IFRC, was conducted in mid-2008. The main findings will be released on the opening day of the Pan African Conference. The “Believe in Africa” initiative gets much of its focus from the survey's findings which apparently indicates the need to better engage at community level and to invest in development and capacity building. Additionally, the survey monitored media coverage of Africa. In brief: Africa is consistently depicted in a negative tone with its many successes and achievements being overlooked.

The initiative will be launched in Johannesburg and in Geneva. Then, it will be relayed by Red Cross and Red Crescent societies all over Africa. A competition for African-based media (Good news for Africa) will also be announced. The IFRC will declare the winners during the IFRC General Assembly in Nairobi in November 2009.