Two years ago, Hivos started working with Kenyan media house Africa Uncensored through our Voices for Just Climate Action (VCA) program. One of the documentaries that came out of this collaboration won the 2023 Annual Journalism Excellence Award in the category of digital environment and climate change reporting. Kenya’s prestigious Annual Journalism Excellence Awards (AJEA) have been given since 2012 for print, broadcast, and now digital journalism.
The plight of climate change refugees
The 38-minute documentary “Nowhere to Run” was produced by Cynthia Gichiri and documents an increasingly prevalent type of story: of Kenyans forced out of their homes by the climate crisis. In the film, the Nakuru and Baringo families share their misery of being made homeless by the impacts of climate change. Displaced families like theirs don’t know much about the changing weather patterns and get no support from the government.
The World Bank warns that climate change can displace up to 86 million Africans by 2050. It is mostly people already in vulnerable positions who are forced to flee, like those in lower-income groups and Indigenous peoples.
Hivos works with its partners in the VCA program to bring stories like these to the attention of the media and the public. We have also connected Africa Uncensored with Youth for Sustainable Development Goals Kenya. The storytelling and investigative journalism background of the former, combined with the climate expertise of the latter, will put a face on the human tragedies caused by climate change.
About Voices for Just Climate Action
Voices for Just Climate Action aims to ensure that by 2025, local civil society and underrepresented groups will have taken on a central role as creators, facilitators and advocates of innovative climate solutions. Their inclusion is crucial for effective and lasting climate responses, and because the climate crisis is also a societal challenge with ethical and human rights aspects.
