Two leaders emerged from Future Leaders’ Training

Aminath Ibrahim, Project coordinator, MJA

The Maldives Journalists Association (MJA) is implementing the 'Stronger Media for Stronger Democracy' project in collaboration with the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and Internews with financial assistance from the European Union (EU). The first activity under the project was the

'MJA Future Leaders Workshop’, a program to train leaders for the executive positions in the MJA.

From 12-13 August 2022 at Kaafu Dhiffushi 11 journalists participated in the training programme. The program taught the participants how to run a journalist union and necessary leadership skills to be a union leader. The program became the first step in training new leaders for the MJA.

Here are the stories of two leaders who emerged from the program.

Can a woman become a leader in journalism, which has a male "monarchy" like in other fields? Is there such an opportunity for a young woman who is new to the field?

These are difficult questions to answer without experience. Aishath Nuzha (Nuzu), 24, a Journalist from Adhadhu wants to find answers to these questions. She took on a challenge to become a women leader in journalism.

"I am a person who likes to have conversations with people and work as a team. But I didn't think that I had that leadership quality. But I was encouraged to come out and test my leadership skills by the MJA's Future Leaders Training Programme," she said.

When Nuzu joined in the future leaders training she was very new to journalism.

Twice the winner of the Maldives Media Council (MMC) Journalism Award and the political reporter in Mihaaru News, Moosa Rasheed has been determined to serve the development of journalism since 2022. But not sure if, with his quiet temperament, he would be able to dare to do the desired work with many people as a team. Moosa was asking himself if he had the skills and ability to lead people in a responsible position.

When the MJA announced the ‘Future Leaders Training Programme’ in September 2022, it became an important opportunity he was waiting for.

"What I believe is that it's very important for journalists to take the initiative and lead. The future leaders training gave me a lot of courage. I gained confidence to come out and lead," Moosa said, speaking to ‘Masdharu’.

Continuing the conversation, Moosa said that training has taught him that anyone can become a leader. It's not a "born talent" specific to an individual.

"It's important to take the lead and move forward with the whole team. Not to be the boss and command. Lead a team by showing results. I learned this a lot from the training," Moosa said.

The various activities conducted during the training showed the importance of teamwork, he said. He said it showed that the opinions of everyone on the team were very important.

“I learned that the most important thing to be a leader is to work together with the whole team,” Moosa said.

With the knowledge and confidence he gained from the training, Moosa started making his dream of applying for the MMC a reality. He consulted his colleagues and friends in the field and gained the trust and support of them. With all this, he contested and won a seat in MMC.

Moosa is currently one of the most active members in the MMC. Moosa's efforts and courage in planning and implementing the student journalism programme developed by the council to introduce school students to journalism are also noteworthy.

Nuzu's journalistic career has experienced few newsrooms since the pandemic. Overall, she found that women faced various challenges in the field. Therefore, Nuzu wanted to be in a position that could make things right.

"By the time the Future Leaders training programme was over, I became more confident to take up a leadership role. It convinced me that the quality of a leader is not limited to one gender or position. Although I didn't have high expectations, I thought I'd give it a try," said Nuzu, soon after the programme who contested in the MJAs election and won a seat in the executive committee.

She is the youngest member of the MJA executive committee. However, Nuzu's capabilities and her views as a leader do not limit her limited experience and age.

Moosa's message is; "The Future Leaders Training Programme is a very important training that I believe everyone should participate in. It is about learning to take leadership in any field and in any position. It certainly taught me more important things than I expected.”