A section of the #EverydayNile photojournalists taking the audience through their photo stories
Delicate Sive, November 8, 2024
As the world’s longest river winds through 11 countries in Africa, it intricately weaves the people’s economies, culture and well-being. The Nile River, a world biodiversity hotspot, is the backbone of many of Africa’s fragile ecosystems. It dictates and in many ways determines millions of livelihoods and the countries’ diplomatic relations. Nonetheless, climate change, population growth, transboundary hydropolitics, and large-scale dams threaten its biodiversity and adequate water availability for the people and countries highly dependent on the Nile Basin waters.
In an attempt to document these critical water and biodiversity issues, InfoNile in partnership with Media in Cooperation and Training (MiCT) and FOTEA, with support from the IHE-Delft Water and Development Partnership Programme, JRS Biodiversity Foundation and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH (GIZ), for 7 months trained and mentored 10 journalists from 10 Nile Basin countries (Burundi, DRC, Ethiopia, Egypt, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda) to document everyday water stories around the Nile River and its tributaries. This culminated in the launch of the 2024 #EverydayNile Photojournalism Project at Nommo Gallery, in Kampala, Uganda, on 1st November.
A group photo of the #EverydayNile photojournalists, their trainers and mentors in Burundi
The stories are published under the hashtag #EverydayNile, a photojournalism outreach project that captures everyday life in the Nile Basin countries and aims to promote cooperation and understanding of the water issues around the Nile River as a shared natural resource. The theme for the 2024 #EverydayNile photostories is “Water and Biodiversity in the Nile Basin.”
Curity Ogada (right), a photojournalist from Kenya taking a viewer through her photostory
The exhibition launch included topical discussions between journalists, scientists, policymakers and the general public, a panel discussion featuring #EverydayNile photojournalists, a networking reception with journalists and scientists, as well as an exhibition walk-through.
An ongoing panel discussion moderated by InfoNile's cofounder, Fredrick Mugira (far left) followed by the #EverydayNile photojournalists; Nitanga Tchandrou from Burundi, Esra Elfaki from Sudan and Curity Ogada from Kenya. On the right are Mathias Behangana and Jackson Efitre, both are scientists from Uganda.
The exhibition is open for the entire month of November at Nommo Gallery, Victoria Avenue. Another regional exhibition will be held in Ethiopia during Nile Day on 22nd February 2025.