South Africa bids for the 2015 World Federation of Science Journalists Conference

Africa has been implored to rally behind South Africa as the country bids to be the first African country to host the World Federation of Science Journalists (WFSJ) conference slated for 2015.

Mandi Smallhorne, President of the Professional Association of Science Media Practitioners in South Africa (SASJA), an organisation which represents science media practitioners said the organisation had already tabled their proposal and called on Africans across to continent to support South Africa’s bid to host the prestigious event.

“This is our second time trying to host the event but we believe that with the support of partners regionally, we are going to be successful,” said Smallhorne.

“We believe that South Africa has the facilities to host the conference and we believe that this is the time for Africa.”

Smallhorne said although this was not the first time that her country was bidding to host the conference after the country lost the bid to South East Asia, she was optimistic that with the support of fellow Africans, her country would be successful this time around.

She said hosting the conference was very important for journalists from Southern Africa as this presented them with an opportunity to network with other journalists from the international community.

“Kenya tried to host the conference before but they failed to win the bid,” said Smallhorne.

“If South Africa hosts the international conference, this will provide journalists and the science community in Africa to interact with the international media and scientists and come up with strategies on how Africa can keep up with the pace of the fast-changing world of science.”

SASJA is a non-governmental organisation representing the interests of science media practitioners and journalists covering the scientific aspects in technology, health, environmental, engineering and sports beats.

The organisation promotes information sharing on latest science resources and promotes debate among its members.

SASJA facilitates and encourages training, networking, and education for science journalists in South Africa, the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) countries and the rest of Africa.

The organisation is an associative member of the African Federation of Science Journalists and it is a member of the World Federation of Science Journalists.

Post published in: Africa News

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