“Informed journalists can have a significant impact on public understanding of mental health issues as they shape debate and trends with the words and pictures they convey.”
Rosalynn Carter, Former First Lady of the United States
Over two decades, The Carter Center has awarded one-year fellowships to 181 journalists to connect them with resources and experts to increase the quality and accuracy of mental health reporting around the world. The UAE is proudly the first country in the Middle East to offer the Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism program through Al Jalila Foundation.
Al Jalila Foundation has awarded three Emirati journalists the mental health journalism fellowship to bring awareness, reduce stigma and end discrimination against those with mental illness within the UAE. With little awareness and support for mental health within the region, the fellowship promotes the publication of quality discussion around mental illness encouraging awareness and acceptance to a stigmatized hidden condition.
Fellowship Goals
* Increasing accurate reporting on mental health issues and decreasing incorrect, stereotypical information;
* Helping journalists produce high-quality work that reflects an understanding of mental health issues through exposure to well-established resources in the field.
* Developing a cadre of better-informed print and electronic journalists who will more accurately report information through newspapers, magazines, radio, television, film, and online and social media, and influencing their peers to do the same.
2016-2017 Fellow
Amna Al Haddad
Sports Pioneer, Journalist, and Motivational Speaker
Dubai, UAE
Project: Encourage open discussion about mental illness in the UAE through anonymous support group meetings and a monthly newspaper column.
2017-2018 Fellows
Iman Ben Chaibah
CEO and Editor-in-Chief (Founder) | Sail Publishing and Sail Magazine
Dubai, UAE
Project: A study on mental health issues among UAE youth and to disseminate information on why and how to support people who suffer from mental illnesses.
Nahid Mubarak Khamis Faraj Alawani Alnaqbi
Senior Reporter | Albayan Newspaper
Sharjah, UAE
Project: Explore why the treatment of mental illnesses remains shrouded in fear and misconception in the UAE and how to reduce mental health stigma.