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ProfilesQ & A with Akram El Neis
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Pat Chadwick/Internews |
Akram El Neis, Internews Network’s Project Director in Yemen, has worked as a journalist in some of the most difficult places in the world, including Iraq and in Cambodia, where he was ambushed and injured by bandits who killed his driver.
Despite this history, El Neis says his work with Internews setting up a radio production unit in Yemen is one of his most challenging assignments. The main goal of Internews Network’s work in Yemen is to increase the role of women and youth in the country’s development by helping them to produce radio programs about social issues. In the following interview, El Neis explains how he deals with technical, cultural and security issues while working to empower the voices of women and youth.
How do Internews’ town hall meetings in Yemen work?
First of all, the aim of the town hall meetings is to get better knowledge about people’s concerns; that's why people participating are members of civil society organizations. We invite the local NGOs working with youth, women, and development issues for a workshop in their governorates. We split them into three working groups to brainstorm on the major problems or subjects they want to develop more in a radio program. We also invite the local radio stations to involve them in the process and in order to broadcast the programs on their airwaves later on.
What are the main challenges in conducting the meetings?
There are lots of challenges: first of all, to convince the local radio stations that we are not competing with them and that the produced programs will complement their work and enrich their programming. This is not easy at all. The concept of production units is very new in Yemen.
What are the security issues you need to deal with in Yemen?
There are security issues because of political and tribal differences.
What are the technical challenges of working in Yemen?
In Yemen we are facing problems in Internet access because there is only one provider in Yemen, which is the government, and lines are shared even if you pay for dedicated lines. When we send our reports, a 20-megabyte file with photos can take us 19 hours to upload. Can you imagine this?
The other major problem is electricity. Power is cut off on a daily basis at different hours of the day or night. Last January we spent three days without electricity, which also means no Internet, and even our mobile phones were out of power by the last day.
How do you deal with sensitivity about political and cultural issues?
Our radio programs, which we are about to start producing, tackle development issues. Political and cultural issues will definitely be part of those programs. For example, when you talk about the role of women and youth in development, you can't avoid the political sensitivity of the issue, but we will deal with it in a professional way; we’re not taking sides.
What are the rewards of working on this project?
It was a big accomplishment to set up the first digital radio production unit in Yemen. But most of all, working in Yemen gives us real satisfaction because we are an NGO working in the media development field, and what we are doing goes with our objectives in spreading the new media tools and training local journalists to enhance their capabilities and communicate local issues more effectively.
