RFI is organizing the sixth "Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon Scholarship" in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, following the first five editions in Mali in 2014, Madagascar in 2015, Benin in 2016, Senegal in 2017, and Côte d'Ivoire last year.
Created in tribute to its two reporters murdered on November 2, 2013, in Kidal, northern Mali, this scholarship rewards a young radio journalist and a young reporting technician in an African country each year. The winners receive a month of training in Paris. The scholarship will be awarded in Kinshasa on November 2, a date designated by the United Nations as the "International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists" in memory of Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon.
Applications are open from Monday, September 2 to Monday, September 23, 2019, to all active French-speaking journalists and technicians and French-speaking students currently training in journalism, aged under 35 and residing in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Ten journalist candidates and ten technician candidates will be selected on the basis of their applications and then invited to attend workshops from October 17 to 30 in Kinshasa, provided by the France Médias Monde Academy at the Rtnc premises. At the end of these workshops, the jury will meet on site to select the journalist and technician who will receive the scholarship and benefit from a four-week training course in Paris, fully funded, during the first quarter of 2020.
The jury will be composed of representatives from the France Médias Monde group, the Sciences Po School of Journalism, the INA, and the Congolese press.
The 2019 edition of the scholarship is organized in partnership with Rtnc (Radio-Télévision nationale congolaise), the Sciences Po School of Journalism, and INA (Institut national de l'audiovisuel), which will host the winning journalist and technician in Paris. These training courses complement an internship at RFI, at the headquarters of France Médias Monde, supervised by the Academy's trainers.