“A Certificate Is Not Enough”: Female Journalists Seek More Professional Opportunities

By Anak Dut Malual

Female journalists in South Sudan are calling for greater access to professional opportunities after completing training programmes, saying certificates alone are not enough and urging media organisations and partners to provide platforms where they can apply and share the skills they have acquired.

Emmanuela Joyce, a participant in the first cohort of a Training of Trainers programme, made the call during a ceremony awarding certificates of completion to 16 female journalists.

Joyce urged the Union of Journalists of South Sudan (UJOSS) and its partners to provide trained female journalists with opportunities to apply their knowledge through workshops, mentorship programmes and other media activities.

“A certificate recognises what we have completed, but an opportunity demonstrates what we can do,” Joyce said.

She urged UJOSS to ensure that trained journalists are considered when opportunities arise for training, capacity building and media programmes, allowing them to put their newly acquired skills into practice and pass their knowledge on to other journalists.

“Where there are partnerships, workshops, media programmes, and capacity building, let these opportunities be given to those people who have already completed the trainings,” she said.

Joyce also appealed for fairness in the selection of participants for professional opportunities, saying selection should be based on knowledge, ability, commitment and professionalism rather than personal connections.

“Let us not ask, ‘Who do I know?’ Let the opportunities be based on knowledge, ability, commitment, and professionalism,” she said.

She described the Training of Trainers programme as more than a certificate-awarding exercise, saying it had strengthened participants’ confidence and prepared them to become trainers, mentors and role models within the media sector.

“We came here as participants. We are leaving today as trainers. We came here with fear. We are leaving today with confidence. We came here to learn, and today we are leaving to teach,” Joyce said.

Joyce commended UJOSS for responding to concerns raised by female journalists about the limited participation of women as trainers and facilitators in media capacity-building programmes.

She said the initiative demonstrated that gender sensitivity should not only be discussed during training but should also be reflected in creating opportunities for women to lead, train and contribute to the media profession.

Facilitator Marina Modi described the programme as a “journey of growth,” saying it was helping to increase the number of South Sudanese women serving as trainers and facilitators in the media sector.

Modi encouraged the newly trained journalists not to rely solely on their certificates but to demonstrate their skills through practical work and by sharing their knowledge with other media practitioners.

“Don’t sit on the certificate. The skills you have attained are the very best,” she said.

She said the impact of the training could become more visible in the coming years as graduates take up leadership and training roles within the media industry.

Meanwhile, Oyet Patrick, President of UJOSS, congratulated the participants and assured them that the union would continue providing professional opportunities where possible.

Oyet said the newly trained journalists would be given priority for future training opportunities, while acknowledging that international opportunities for journalists remain limited.

He encouraged the trainers to take the initiative and begin conducting training themselves.

“You have everything that you need to do training,” Oyet said.

Oyet also announced that UJOSS would seek to include the trainers in future workshops.

“From now onwards, when we have a workshop, one slot must go to one of you,” he said.

Joyce Maker, representing Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), congratulated the trainers and commended their commitment to the programme.

Maker said NPA values partnerships that promote learning, knowledge-building and capacity development among media professionals.

“To the trainers, you have been given the knowledge, and now the baton is in your hand for you to show us,” Maker said.

She urged the graduates to apply their newly acquired knowledge in their professional work and use their skills to contribute to positive change in South Sudan’s media sector.

The Training of Trainers programme brought together female journalists and media practitioners as part of efforts to strengthen women’s participation in media training, mentorship and leadership.