The Sustainable Independent Media Activity (SIMA) program, which is implemented by the International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX), and the Association for Media Development in South Sudan (AMDISS) on Thursday handed over micro-grant cheques of USD 2,500 each to three journalists who participated in the Innovation Hackathon in Wau.
The winners were Chagai Mading and Julleta Lino Alberto both of Voice of Hope Radio and Machok Angok Deng, a student of the University of Bahr el Ghazal.
SIMA is a three-year activity funded by USAID South Sudan’s Democracy and Governance office. The activity aims to improve citizens’ access to credible, accurate, and reliable information by promoting the sustainability of high-quality and independent radio station operations.
The two-day pitching event in the Western Bahr el Ghazal State capital, Wau, brought together journalists from different media houses, freelance journalists, civil society activists, state government officials, academia, media development partners, and donors to listen on Wednesday and Thursday.
Linet Omwange, the IREX chief of party in South Sudan, said fifteen participants pitched ideas but only six were selected to proceed, out of which the three winners were picked.
“They presented their ideas at the Innovation Hackathon regarding how to support their communities and increase access to information. The three of them (winner) have been selected because they had great pitches,” she explained. “What we look forward to from the three participants who have now won the award is that they will be able to implement the project from the start to the end.”
Omwange added: “This is an opportunity for mentorship, for coaching in terms of how to interact with the communities and we do look forward to thinking and advancing with their project ideas, and through AMDISS, we will support them all through the three months.”
Meanwhile, the representative of the winners, Julleta Lino Alberto, said they will focus on the activities that they are going to deliver to the communities.
“It is not all about the grant or money that we are going to receive but going to the communities and the impact of the activities we are going to do on the communities because we know that access to accurate and credible information remains a challenge in the state,” she stated. “I am happy that am standing here as a journalist and as one of the people who is going to offer something to the community that will help them get access to accurate and credible information.”
The Innovation Hackathon is a mechanism to engage communities in new programs and innovations that will supplement AMDISS’s locally-led approach to the quality of independent media.
It is also a way to attract creative ideas to address problems or challenges and create healthy competition while including diverse points of view. It allows media practitioners, innovators, women, and youth to work together to understand the needs of their communities, identify existing problems, and submit applications that will validate solutions to information challenges.
In February, IREX and AMDISS invited applicants from across Western Bahr el Ghazal State to apply for the third edition of the competition under the theme “Supporting innovative solutions to increase South Sudanese citizens’ access to credible information.”