Journalists across Zambia have been trained in social protection reporting in order to enhance the visibility of programmes being implemented by Government and its partners. The training which was conducted in all the 10 provinces drew journalists from both public and private media in order to have a balance in reporting.

Government and partners noted with great concern the low reporting levels among journalists on issues of social protection. The low reporting levels was due to the fact that many journalists did not have enough knowledge about social protection programmes in Zambia. This was revealed during an assessment that was conducted across the country in 2020 by Media Institute in Southern Africa (MISA – Zambia) in which journalists from different media houses were interviewed about social protection issues. The results of the assessment showed the following:

• 66% respondents had some level of knowledge of what constituted social protection;
• 34% did not have any knowledge at all of what constituted social protection
• None of the respondents understood social protection fully.
• 17% thought social protection was about vulnerability and poverty reduction
• 13% thought it was about social cash transfer.
• Negligent percentages showed that some understood social protection to comprise Farmer Input Support Programme, empowerment programmes in general, life skills development, insurance, occupational health and safety, housing, gender-based violence protection, pensions and old age and disability among others.

It was clear from the above findings that knowledge levels on social protection in the media was scanty and this had the ability to compromise reporting on the subject matter. The results of the assessment necessitated a training to be conducted in all the ten provinces in order to impart some knowledge on social protection. A training manual was prepared by MISA Zambia with financial assistance from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and technical support from the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services (MCDSS) and Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MLSS).  It was envisaged that once journalists were trained in this subject matter, improved reporting and content on social protection in the Zambian media would be attained while the journalists’ agenda setting and watchdog roles would be ignited towards the subject of social protection in Zambia.

In developing the manual MISA Zambia engaged the University of Zambia Media Department and social protection experts from Government and the International Labour Organisation. It was therefore, expected that once media had enhanced knowledge on social protection; international standards and the current social protection landscape, the citizens would be well informed on the social protection services, where to access them and benefits/impacts of social protection. Further, a healthy discourse on how to improve social protection will abound as beneficiaries would have an opportunity to add their voices to the design and implementation of social protection services as opposed to being mere recipients.