Recipients of UAE mental health journalism fellowships announced

Amandeep Bhangu and Anam Rizvi will join an international cohort of reporters and editors who have been awarded Rosalynn Carter fellowships over the past 25 years

Amandeep Bhangu and Anam Rizvi.

Amandeep Bhangu and Anam Rizvi have been awarded 2021-22 Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism.

Bhangu is a freelance presenter and documentary filmmaker based in the UAE. Rizvi is an education reporter for The National.

Both journalists will begin their year-long non-residential fellowship next month. The programme aims to increase and improve the quality of mental health reporting in the media.

The fellowship is named after Rosalynn Carter, co-founder of the Carter Centre, who has been an influential voice in the field of mental health for decades.

Earlier this year Mrs Carter was recognised by the World Health Organisation for her long-term contribution to promoting greater understanding of mental health.

The Carter Centre, a US-based not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation, has awarded fellowships to more than 200 journalists around the world since 1996.

Around 20 journalists in the US, Latin America and the Middle East will be granted fellowships this year.

The National administers and oversees the Carter Centre’s UAE mental health journalism programme and awards two fellowships each year.

Bhangu worked for BBC TV News for a decade before moving to the UAE eight years ago. She has since freelanced as a presenter, reporter and filmmaker for a host of major broadcasters.

During her fellowship year, Bhangu plans to launch a podcast series with a particular focus on researching the role culture plays in mental health within the diverse communities living in the UAE.

Rizvi has been The National’s education reporter since 2018, having previously covered health for the paper. She has also written and reported for titles in the UK and India.

She will report on the mental health challenges facing teenagers in the UAE during her fellowship year. Rizvi will also examine the impact pandemic-related school closures have had on young people.

Both journalists will be supported by a local advisory board in the UAE and will receive intensive training from experts and mentors in the US to help them accurately report on mental health.

Bhangu and Rizvi will join Raya Al Jadir and Deena Kamel as UAE fellows, who will both stay attached to the mentorship and development programme until February 2022.

Al Jadir has spent her fellowship reporting on how pandemic stay-at-home orders have affected the mental health of people who live with disabilities.

Kamel has been exploring the upheaval experienced by the aviation sector during the pandemic and its impact on the mental health of those working in the industry.

Applications for the 2022-23 UAE cohort of Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism will open in February 2022.