Under the theme "For Reforms and Stable Governance in Guinea-Bissau", the second edition of the Investigative Journalism competition for all Guinean journalists of radio, print, audiovisual and online media was officially launched on June 15.

This initiative of the Media, Communication Innovation Consortium (CMICS), supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) through the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund (PBF), aims to stimulate and value the production of journalistic works that promote reflection, change, as well as recognize the importance of the press in the dissemination of relevant information to society.

According to the CMICS coordinator, Demba Sanha, investigative journalism allows journalists to uncover mysteries and facts hidden from public knowledge, especially cases of corruption, human rights violations that may eventually become news, so he considers this journalistic genre more effective, since it gives journalists the opportunity to research, improve their techniques and quality of information that will be presented to the public," stressed Demba.

To encourage journalists to apply, CMICS organized on June 28 a briefing on investigative journalism with journalist Fernando Jorge Lopes Pereira, who stressed the importance of investigative journalism and the conditions necessary for the success of a good investigative work, recalling also that the organs are not always able to financially support their journalists to conduct a proper journalistic investigation.

All journalists can submit their proposals to receive a scholarship to conduct a piece on investigative journalism by 15^th July. For more information about application requirements and forms, please check the CMICS website at www.cmics.gb.org

The first edition of the grants program for investigative journalism projects on Guinea-Bissau was launched in 2019 by CMICS with financial support from the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund and technical support of the United Nations Integrated Office for Peacebuilding in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).