Review of the initiatives of Junior Reporters’ Clubs (JRC) and One Minute Junior (OMJ) in Madagascar

Highlights

In 2018, Madagascar had 25,680,342 inhabitants, of which 12,666,952 were men, or 49.3%, and 13,013,390 were women, or 50.7%, according to the provisional results of the RGPH 3 of INSTAT Madagascar. The Malagasy population is very young. 50% is under 18 years old, 43% is under 15 years old, 15% is under 5 years old. Moreover, a quarter of the Malagasy population is made up of adolescents (10-19 years) (MICS Madagascar 2018). It is therefore possible to estimate the number of young people potentially concerned by the initiatives supported by UNICEF in Madagascar, consisting of relying on the media and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for the promotion of children’s expression, at around 6 million. UNICEF Madagascar promotes youth participation through the Junior Reporters Club (JRC) and One Minute Junior (OMJ) initiatives. The first initiative is the Junior Reporters Club (JRC) programme which was first implemented in 2007. This programme ensures that after training in radio programme production techniques and priority youth issues, young people produce their own programmes to be broadcast on partner radio stations (Madagate 2012). The second initiative is One Minute Junior (OMJ), implemented since 2011 and which consists of allowing young people to express their concerns through short videos and to participate in an international competition of the same name. There are similarities between the two initiatives. They both target young people and offer capacity building opportunities. However, the OMJ programme has a more global audience, through the annual OneMinutesJr festival competition. In 2019, the UNICEF Representative has requested a review of these initiatives. Within UNICEF, the section in charge of this Review is the Social Policy and Evaluation (PSE) section, in collaboration with Communication for Development (C4D), and Media and External Relations (MRE). According to the ToR, “While 2020 is a year of transition to the next UNICEF programme cycle in Madagascar, there are some issues and questions regarding the Adolescent Media Strategy, and specifically regarding the JRC programme and the OMJ initiatives.”