AfricTivistes launched the pilot phase of the Health Lab project this Monday, October 9, 2023. This programme, launched by AfricTivistes and supported by Seek Initiative, aims to train and equip media professionals, bloggers in Africa focusing on health with the skills necessary to conduct in-depth journalistic investigations using only digital sources, verify the traceability of a video or photo, and create secure interactive charts and maps.

Sixteen journalists and bloggers specialised in health or with projects on health issues from Senegal, Benin, Togo, Mauritania and Guinea are being trained on online investigative journalism. The programme includes an in-person training, one-month post-training mentorship and the production of value-added content by the participants.

The programme also aims to create or strengthen local and pan-African networks of health journalists to encourage the monitoring and evaluation of health systems by various health actors, and to foster a collaborative dynamic among health journalists and bloggers in different African countries.

The “AfricTivistes Health Lab” programme is structured around ten investigative pathways designed to help journalists and bloggers conduct in-depth investigations, verify information, and create visual representations of data. The programme aims to train nearly 200 journalists and bloggers in a dozen African countries, with the objective of turning them not only into competent investigative health journalists, but also into trainers for their colleagues in their respective countries. A follow-up and mentoring programme is also planned to accompany the trained participants.