The WANAD Center is a regional center of expertise for media training,
technology and communication for
development. It is a self-financing institution currently executing
media and communication projects in various countries for the UNDP,
UNESCO, the European Union, WHO and the World Bank. Based in Cotonou,
Benin, the Center grew out of a regional project started in 1984 by
UNESCO and funded by the Federal Republic of Germany. The project
was designed to improve the quality of journalism in West African
countries by promoting specialization among reporters and editors
of national news agencies through training in the fields of development
and international cooperation.
WANAD executes projects funded by governments, bilateral and international
institutions. These include: a series of regional and national seminars
and workshops for journalists, trade unionists, parliamentarians and
others on behalf of the World Bank and its Economic Development Institute
(EDI); a workshop for communication experts to review the Health Information
Package of the World Health Organization's Regional Office for Africa;
training workshops for journalists for a number of institutions including
the West African Monetary and Economic Union (UEMOA), the German Friedrich-Nauman
Foundation, UNESCO, the French Cooperation, the Benin Government;
a national communication project in Nigeria for the European Union;
training in Internet technology for technicians from Niger, funded
by DANIDA, and from West and Central Africa, under the auspices of
UNEVOC; the installation of broadcasting equipment and training of
staff of the CAPP-FM, a private radio station in Benin; the computerization
of the Vanguard newspaper in Nigeria. WANAD has been appointed a collaborating
center of the UNAIDS program and will help train media and communication
personnel within the framework of a UNAIDS project to counter the
HIV/AIDS epidemic.
The WANAD Center is unique because it combines a thorough knowledge
of the media and communication industry with an understanding of the
international development issues and institutions, their policies
and procedures. It also has the competence-both in-house and through
an external network of professionals and consultants-to provide locally
adapted approaches for the the execution of development projects and
programs.
The West African Newsmedia and Development Centre (WANAD)
B.P. 378, Cotonou, Benin
Tel: +229 31 57 32 Fax: +229 31 54 61
E-mail: wananet@bow.intnet.bj
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