3 Journalists in Kenya, Liberia and Philippines Awarded Grants to Report on Coastal Resilience

In May, Internews' Earth Journalism Network (EJN) hosted a three-day virtual workshop for 40 journalists on coastal solutions, financing and resilience. As part of the workshop, journalists participated in a pitch competition, using the skills and story ideas they gained from the training, offered as part of EJN’s Covering Coastal Resilience project funded by the Kingfisher Foundation. The project provides grants and mentorship to journalists and media outlets around the world to increase coverage and understanding of coastal resilience issues. 

Following the workshop, three journalists were awarded story grants to cover under-reported and critical coastal issues in their home countries:  

• Chemtai Kirui, Kenya 
• Procopio Resabal, Jr., Philippines 
• Sampson G. David, Liberia 

In Kenya, Kirui will report on heritage sites on the country’s coast that are threatened due to sea level rise and coastal erosion, investigating possible solutions to prevent their loss, such as dune restoration.  

Resabal, in Bohol, Philippines, will follow the money, diving into how disaster recovery, rehabilitation and prevention funds have been utilized to support communities after typhoons.  

In Liberia, David will explore the realities of a 2010 coastal defense project meant to provide long-lasting solutions to coastal communities—and whether, more than a decade since its implementation, it has lived up to its promises.  

“We’re proud to be supporting these journalists as they work on these under-reported and crucial stories in their communities, highlighting efforts to protect important heritage sites from climate impacts to tracing misspent rehabilitation funds to assessing the effectiveness of already-implemented resilience infrastructure,” said Hannah Bernstein, EJN’s Covering Coastal Resilience project manager.  

Look out for these stories on EJN’s website in the coming months. 

Banner image: The coastline near Mombasa, Kenya / Credit: imso gabriel via Unsplash.