Launched in 2024, the fellowship supports journalists with skills, resources and access to MSF projects that will enable them to produce high-quality, nuanced narratives that shine a light on critical health issues and humanitarian challenges across Eastern Africa.

MSF Eastern Africa Media Fellowship 2025

Program: MSF Eastern Africa Media Fellowship 2025
Launch Year: 2024
Application Status: Call for applications now open
Application Deadline: 19th September 2025
Target Group: Journalists based and publishing in Eastern Africa
Coverage Areas: Kenya, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Tanzania
Support Provided: Training workshops, reporting grants, access to MSF projects & experts
Eligibility: Minimum 3 years’ experience, reference letter, three published stories, affiliation with a media organisation or accreditation with their relevant regulator, commitment to travel and publish within fellowship timelines

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The MSF Eastern Africa Media Fellowship Program aims to support and empower journalists to tell compelling and impactful stories about pressing humanitarian issues that MSF is responding to in Eastern Africa. Launched in 2024, the fellowship supports journalists with skills, resources and access to MSF projects that will enable them to produce high-quality, nuanced narratives that shine a light on critical health issues and humanitarian challenges across Eastern Africa.

The Fellowship is an initiative designed to empower and collaborate with journalists committed to covering critical humanitarian and health issues across the region. By providing fellows with financial support, specialised training, and unique access to MSF's field operations and medical expertise, the program aims to deepen the quality and impact of reporting on underreported crises, from conflict and displacement to infectious disease outbreaks and malnutrition. This fellowship serves as a vital bridge between the humanitarian world and the media, fostering a network of informed journalists who can bring much-needed visibility to emergencies.

check out our past fellowship

Meet our 2025 fellows

Aveline Kitomary

Aveline is a health, climate change, and gender reporter at Tanzania Standard Newspaper. She also contributes to Daily News Tanzania, covering stories at the intersection of public health, environmental issues, and gender.

Addis Ayele

Ayele Addis Ambelu is an award-winning journalist, investigative reporter, and digital rights advocate with over five years of experience in public interest journalism. He works with Africa News Channel and Ethiopian Mass Media Action (EMMA NEWS), producing in-depth stories on digital governance, human rights, technology, and environmental justice.

Ayele's reporting focuses on the impact of digital public infrastructure such as digital ID systems, open data, and internet access on marginalized communities in Ethiopia and across Africa. He holds a master's in media and communication and has published over 100 investigative pieces spanning radio, online, and academic platforms.

As a media literacy trainer and program editor, Ayele also mentors emerging journalists on factchecking, digital safety, and AI in the newsroom. His work has been recognised by the Nile Media Awards, the Festove Investigative Media Award in Switzerland, the African Continental Re media award in South Africa, and WHO Africa. He is passionate about using journalism to expose inequality and drive inclusive digital transformation.

Claret Adhiambo

Claret Adhiambo brings over a decade of hands-on newsroom experience to Nairobi's dynamic media landscape. She currently balances her time between shaping print and web content as a Sub Editor at The Star.

Throughout her career, Claret has embraced every side of modern journalism. At GhettoRadio, she led the newsroom with a collaborative approach, vetting breaking stories, mentoring a talented team of writers, and staying hands on with multimedia production. Her deep roots in the Kenyan media landscape began with foundational reporting roles at the Kenya News Agency and Radio Africa Group, where she learnt the value of building trust with local sources and grew a sharp instinct for what captures a digital audience's attention.

A versatile storyteller with a genuine understanding of regional current affairs, Claret remains deeply dedicated to editorial excellence, always ensuring that the news she delivers across radio, print, and web is accurate, timely, and impactful.

Margaret Kimathi

Margaret Kimathi is an experienced broadcast journalist and multimedia producer at NTV Kenya (Nation Media Group). Since joining the network in 2021, she has focused on delivering compelling, human centered stories with a deep specialization in public health, agriculture, and environmental developments across East Africa.

Balancing her sharp journalism instincts with comprehensive skills in audio visual production, event videography, and postproduction editing, Margaret handles every dimension of modern news gathering and visual storytelling to keep audiences informed and engaged.

Mercy Kahenda

Mercy Kahenda is a health writer at Standard Group, covering public health, healthcare administration, and consumer health, with a focus on wellness programs, mental health, and the intersection of health with climate change.

She reports extensively on local healthcare and government updates in Kenya, including HIV/AIDS, neonatal deaths, and mental health. Mercy's work relies on data and official announcements, making her receptive to pitches featuring new insights, exclusive data, or interviews with experts shaping Kenya's health landscape.

Aveline Addis Claret Margaret Mercy

How does it work?

Successful applicants will be invited to a full-day workshop facilitated by a respected media professional.
After the workshop, participants will submit story pitches based on their interests.
Journalists with selected pitches will receive support to report on humanitarian stories from the region.

Why Apply for the Fellowship?

The MSF Media Fellowship provides journalists in East Africa with a chance to get a first-hand glimpse into various humanitarian and health interventions in the region. Fellows will receive:

Training from media and communication professionals on covering humanitarian stories
A reporting grant to cover the costs for the project visits
Access to relevant experts and to MSF projects to support their coverage of the story

Call for Applications for 2025 now open

General eligilibity criteria

The fellowship is open to journalists based and publishing in the region (refer to specific country).
All applicants must have a minimum of 3 years of work experience and provide a reference letter from an editor or a senior journalist/media expert.
All applicants must send a letter demonstrating an interest in any of the thematic tracks, with links to three recently published stories.
Applicants must be affiliated to a media organisation or, if working as a freelance, must be accredited by their relevant regulator with proof of accreditation/affiliation.
Applicants must commit to travel for content collection and to publish within the fellowship timelines.

KENYA

Applicants MUST be accredited journalists in any of the Eastern Africa countries to qualify under this category.

Eastlands: Response to urban violence in Nairobi

Since 2008, MSF has been providing comprehensive medical care for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in Eastlands. Services are delivered through the MSF Lavender House clinic and two MSF supported Ministry of Health facilities at Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital and Dandora II Health Centre using a nurse-led model. The Lavender House clinic offers a toll-free hotline, full medical and psychosocial support, referrals for advanced care and medical expert witnessing in court. MSF also operates an emergency medical program featuring a 24/7 call center, trauma room, and medicalized ambulances capable of en-route stabilisation and resuscitation. These services cover areas like Mathare, Huruma, Kiambiu, and Eastleigh, and support responses to mass casualty incidents, violence, accidents, fires, and disease outbreaks such as cholera. Additionally, MSF runs a youth-friendly clinic in Dandora II Health Centre, providing adolescent and youth friendly sexual and reproductive health services.

Homa Bay: Primary and Secondary healthcare for chronic disease patients

MSF runs in collaboration with MOH the adult medical wards including the TB/DRTB wards of Homa Bay County Teaching and Referral Hospital. MSF also provides post-discharge treatment and follow-up for unstable patients from the inpatient wards with chronic diseases including HIV, and non-communicable diseases at the post discharge clinic, while providing long-term continuity of care through linkages. To address the increasing burden of non-communicable diseases. MSF provides a decentralised, simplified and integrated model of chronic disease care in two Healthcare facilities in Homa Bay Subcounty: Nyalkinyi and Marindi to address the increasing burden of non-communicable diseases such as Diabetes, Hypertension, Asthma, Epilepsy, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, and Sickle Cell Disease, with an established referral framework for continuum of care - including community engagement and support.

Dagahaley: Medical care for refugees and host communities

MSF has been delivering healthcare in and around Dadaab for almost 32 years. The Dadaab refugee camp complex consists of four camps: Dagahaley, Ifo, Hagadera and the newly reopened Ifo 2, and currently hosts 416,403 refugees mostly from Somalia (UNHCR, December 2024). MSF currently provides healthcare in Dagahaley Refugee Camp, which hosts an estimated 104,000 refugees and has a host community of around 14,000 people living in neighboring villages. MSF provides primary and secondary health care in Dagahaley. The services also include responding to public health emergencies, disease outbreaks and humanitarian needs through three health posts and a 90-bed hospital.

Mombasa: Peer-led adolescent and youth health and well-being project

Since 2021, MSF has been partnering with Mombasa County Department of Health to implement the Adolescent and Youth Population (AYP) Strategy through youth-friendly services in three public dispensaries, and community outreach activities in Kisauni, Nyali, and Mvita sub-counties. The project targets young people aged 10–24 years, including vulnerable groups such as street youth, persons with disabilities, and key populations often excluded from healthcare due to stigma and discrimination. Adolescents and youth make up one-third of Mombasa’s population and face significant gaps in access to sexual and reproductive health, mental health services, care for teen pregnancies, Sexual or Gender Based Violence (SGBV) survivors, and substance abuse support. The project addresses these unmet needs through a peer-led model aimed at improving access to stigma-free, inclusive, quality healthcare and well-being.

ETHIOPIA

Applicants MUST be Ethiopian nationals or based in Ethiopia to qualify under this category

Tigray

MSF continues to support the recovery of the healthcare system in Northwest Tigray, which was disrupted by the conflict that ended in 2022. With the agreement of local health authorities, MSF is implementing a comprehensive intervention strategy across three levels of care to strengthen the post-conflict affected healthcare system in Shire, Sheraro town. At the secondary healthcare level, MSF is providing targeted support to Maini Hospital in Sheraro, focusing on high-risk ANC mothers, reducing maternal mortality/morbidity, and strengthening the Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) department starting January 2025. Additionally, MSF is addressing NTD care and management at Maini and Suhul hospitals to decrease morbidity and mortality rates. At the primary healthcare level, MSF is providing targeted support to Shire Five Angels Health Center, offering comprehensive Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) and Mental Health services. In remote areas of North western Tigray, MSF is strengthening the health system by supporting remote health posts and continuing Integrated Community Case Management (ICCM) activities to deliver basic healthcare and immunization services, thereby reducing child mortality and morbidity in IDP sites.

Gambella

MSF began providing services to refugee populations in Gambella in 2014, focusing today on the Kule refugee camp, which houses around 55,000 South Sudanese refugees. MSF offers primary and secondary healthcare, including community health promotion, vaccination, malaria treatment, and services for sexual and gender-based violence. Secondary care includes emergency and inpatient services, malnutrition treatment, maternity care, and referrals for advanced surgical care. MSF supports the Gambella Regional Blood Bank to improve blood transfusion availability.

SOUTH SUDAN

Applicants MUST be accredited journalists in any of the Eastern Africa countries to qualify under this category.

Aweil

MSF runs maternal and pediatric care while responding to seasonal peaks of malaria, malnutrition and meningitis at Aweil State Hospital - the main referral hospital in Northern Bahr-el Ghazal State. The services include antenatal and postnatal care, safe delivery including caesarean section for complicated deliveries, neonatal ward for premature and sick newborns. Pediatric services include pediatric ICU, treatment for malaria, measles and meningitis

Maruwa & Boma

MSF operates a primary healthcare unit in Maruwa alongside community-based healthcare activities in and around Boma in Greater Pibor Administrative Area, reaching semi-nomadic populations who face immense barriers to medical services. People in these areas are constantly on the move, taking their entire families and cattle in search of pasture and water, sometimes including expectant women. MSF sends smaller teams to follow these nomadic communities to provide basic outpatient services, and arrange for emergency referral of those with severe conditions or mothers ready to deliver, sometimes even helping in delivery—work that directly tackles South Sudan’s extremely high maternal mortality rate

Malakal

MSF delivers mental health services, HIV care, and chronic disease management, addressing the needs of displaced populations.

MSF Academy

MSF offers training and capacity-building programs for healthcare professionals, enhancing skills in emergency medical care and public health response.

TANZANIA

Applicants MUST be Tanzanian nationals or based in Tanzania to qualify under this category

Liwale

MSF provides maternal and child health services, including safe deliveries, immunisations, and nutritional support, to underserved communities.