Malupenga urges journalists to increase reporting on hygiene

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services Amos Malupenga has implored the media in the country to increase their reporting on water and hygiene topics for the benefit of the majority Zambians.

Mr. Malupenga said the media should desist from reporting only on politics but to also cover development issues such as sanitation in order to foster good policy formulation and change.

He said through their role of setting the agenda, journalists must report on issues that are more meaningful to people’s lives than politics.

He said this in Lusaka today at a media sensitisation meeting which was organised by the Zambia Institute of Mass Communication (ZAMCOM) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

And Mr. Malupenga has bemoaned the absence of several heads of media organizations at the meeting saying this demonstrated that they attach little importance to water and sanitation issues.

He has since commended the public media, particularly the Zambia National Broadcasting Services (ZNBC) for introducing segments on its television covering water and hygiene.

Speaking earlier, UNICEF Zambia Chief of Wash, Nicolas Osbert, said the media should beyond just informing the public but to championing behavioural change.

Mr. Osbert said go a step further by highlighting some of the capacity building initiatives which were crucial for behavioural change in the country.

He has since called on the private sector to come on board and invest in sanitation related businesses.

Meanwhile, ZAMCOM Director Oliver Kanene said poor water and sanitation remained the biggest killer of children in Zambia.