Ahead of last week's election in Haiti, 25 journalists went through training in electoral reporting in the southern city of Les Cayes to support them in playing a constructive watchdog role in the electoral process

- Our country is going through an extraordinary electoral and political situation. To deal with this situation, journalists have no other choice but to receive training, says the head of the Association of Haitian Journalists (AHJ), Jacques Desrosiers.

- We were pleased to have the support of IMS in this series of trainings that began in October last year in Port de Paix [in Haiti’s northwest], he continued.

Since then, more than 250 journalists have been trained on election reporting techniques. Nine trainings were carried out in nine departments across Haiti covering Port-de-Paix, Gonaïves, Saint-Marc, Cayes, Cap-Haïtien, Port-au-Prince, Jacmel, Hinche, Mirebalais, Miragoane and Petit-Goave.

Election reporting with tensions at a high

Since the beginning of this year’s electoral process, violence and uncertainty have been at a peak level not seen for twenty years. During the first round of elections in December last year, state buildings were set on fire in Les Cayes, the country’s third largest city, when pop star Michel Martelly’s supporters challenged the fact that their candidate didn’t make it to the second round. Desrosiers explains that in such a tense environment it’s vital that journalists maintain high levels of professionalism to ensure quality coverage. He added that in similar situations short, medium and long-term training help to ensure that journalists play a constructive watchdog role during the election process.

Stories to be told

Those participating in the training said they learned to identify a number of issues at stake during the presidential and legislative elections and that whoever is elected following the March 20 elections should address these issues, which include:

• The reconstruction of the country, in particular the capital, Port-au-Prince, as well as Leogane and Petit Goave which were destroyed in the January 2010 earthquake;
• The possibility of changing or amending the country’s constitution;
• The remobilization of the army that was disbanded in 1994 after President Aristide’s return from exile;
• The maintenance or the gradual departure of the United Nations forces.

Main training themes
During the training seminars, journalists from the provinces learned about international election standards as well as the basic principles behind democratic elections, the voting process and the electoral and political systems in Haiti.
- Certain topics were of particular importance to us, said Vaudre Val, a journalist who participated in the session in late 2010, organized in Hinche, a city in the centre of Haiti.  In particular, according to Val, were the issues of covering speeches and understanding and reporting on statistics and opinion polls.

Beyond the elections
While, the elections last Sunday were much less violent than expected, underlying tensions remained palpable with two people shot dead in clashes between rival political factions. Preliminary results are expected on March 31 with final results set to come out on April 16.
- The elections can only be seen as the first stepping stone in Haiti’s move towards stability and reconstruction, said IMS Director, Jesper Hojberg.
- Beyond April this year, the media sector in Haiti must be reinforced so that journalists can make the voice of local communities across the country heard and ensure their role in shaping Haiti’s democratic future.