Omar AL-Hayani, a science
journalist from Yemen and a board member of the Arab Science Journalists
Association (ASJA), reports on a three-day training project that was launched
this April for 125 journalists covering environmental issues, climate change
and the future of renewable energy.
“Training workshops on the scientific press and
coverage of environmental issues, climate change and renewable energy are new
to us in Yemen,” says Sahar, a Yemeni journalist who was one of the
participants in one of the largest training projects of its kind in the country.
The project was implemented by
local civil society organizations in collaboration with the Friedrich Ebert
Foundation in Yemen. It covered five main governorates: the capital Sana’a,
Aden and Taiz (south), Hadramout and Socotra ( East ) .
During the past weeks, a total of
three training workshops were organized in four governorates: Aden, Taiz,
Hadhramout and Sanaa. 92 journalists were trained in scientific writing methods
for environmental and renewable energy issues. They also focused on ways to
simplify certain scientific concepts and terminology so that their articles
would be better understood by readers.
The workshops also paid attention
to building better scientific articles, on how to find press angles on issues
such as the environment, climate change and energy and on how to write simple
and attractive articles and reports.
Mr. Sahar Mohammed, one of the
trainees, added that “the training workshop helped build my knowledge of the
scientific press and its importance in contributing to raising scientific and
environmental awareness in Yemen.”
The focus of global attention
Mr. Mahmoud Qayeh, a project
manager for the Friedrich Ebert Foundation – Yemen Office, mentioned in a
statement that the project “aims to empower Yemeni journalists and help build
their journalistic capacity in covering scientific issues in general and
climate change and energy issues, which is an important topic and concerns the
globe. These workshops will contribute to raising understanding of climate
change and renewable energy.”
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| OmarAL-Hayani |
The journalist’s task is to report
on science in a simple and understandable way and to reinforce community
awareness since most Yemeni citizens have been using solar energy in the last
three years of the devastating war that Yemen is experiencing. “
Scientific and practical training
The trainer and science journalist, OmarAL-Hayani, used the WFSJ training guide during the workshops. Mr. Al-Hayani is
a graduate of the 2010-2012 SCJOOP program, which targeted the Middle East and
Africa and was implemented by the WFSJ in partnership with the Arab Science
Journalists Association ( ASJA )
The program is a practical
training in writing scientific reports that include various academic lectures
on climate change and related issues which were delivered by Yemeni
universities’ professors.
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Article by Omar AL-Hayani
Yemen, May 2018
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