ICRC Urges Journalists to Strengthen Mental Health Reporting

By Jenifer James

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Wednesday urged journalists in South Sudan to strengthen reporting on mental health issues and adopt more responsible and sensitive approaches when covering people affected by psychological distress.

The ICRC made the call ahead of World Mental Health Day, observed annually on October 10.

Speaking during a workshop on Wednesday, ICRC Communication Coordinator Germain Mwehu said the training was organized to promote the exchange of knowledge and experiences between the organization and members of the media.

Mwehu said journalists have valuable experience in reporting issues affecting communities and that the ICRC also wanted to learn from their experiences.

“We are here also to learn from you, from your experience as journalists, because this topic, mental health, is very important,” Mwehu said.

He said the workshop provided an opportunity for journalists to discuss mental health and deepen their understanding of the challenges faced by people experiencing psychological distress.

“You know, on Saturday, this week, the world will be celebrating or marking World Mental Health Day. So we decided during this week to have this workshop, to discuss the topic with you journalists, so that we can share our experience and learn from each other,” he said.

Mwehu encouraged journalists, including freelancers, to actively participate in the discussions and share their experiences from the field.

He said the workshop was not intended to be a one-way training, but rather an opportunity for mutual learning between journalists and the ICRC staff.

“Feel free to intervene, to discuss, to share your experience, so that as ICRC as well, we are going to learn from you. That’s our objective, to learn also from you,” Mwehu said.

He added that the ICRC had previously organized similar workshops with journalists on issues including social violence and disability.

Mwehu said mental health remains an important issue that requires greater public discussion and responsible media coverage.

The ICRC Health Coordinator, Rose, also emphasized that the workshop was designed as an exchange of experiences, with an expert available to provide additional information on mental health.

“It’s an exchange. We are going to exchange experiences and learn about mental health because we have an expert here. We will also explain some issues if you like,” she said.

She encouraged journalists to use the workshop as an opportunity to deepen their understanding of mental health and contribute to more informed public discussions on the issue.