The Lesotho Council of Non- governmental Organisations (LCN) in collaboration with the Media Institute of Lesotho will hold a workshop for editors on Media and Poverty from Wednesday to Thursday July 2002 at Maseru Lesotho.

 The National Director of MILES, Mr. Khutliso Sekoati, said the workshop would discuss media and poverty perspectives. The intention, he said, is also to introduce media people to aspects of reporting poverty, and the role of media in reporting poverty issues.

Among others the workshop would introduce participants to the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) principles and process, to encourage the media to mainstream poverty in their daily operations and to highlight the political and civic implications of poverty.

The workshop is a follow up to the one held last month in which reporters were introduced to the same aspect of poverty reporting. It is intended to build a common vision and perspective between editors and their reporters.

The acting President of LCN, Mr. Seabata Motsamai told Lesotho News Agency (LENA) that the workshops are not only hoped at improving reportage of poverty issues by the media, but also to strike the sufferers of poverty to realize and understand their role in the reduction of poverty through media reports on poverty.

Mr. Motsamai indicated that their main aim is to involve everybody in all efforts being taken in the country to eradicate poverty and they realized that, that will be best done through the media as it reaches masses of people regularly hence why they decided to focus on it for poverty issues.

 Presenters at the editors forum will include among others; the Director of Lesotho News Agency (LENA), Mr. Nkoe Thakali, the Chairman of MILES, Mr. Nthakeng Selinyane, and a  representative from the Ministry of Development Planning, Mr. Mpoea Phatela.

10 July, 2002