Sira Thierij is an award-winning investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker based in Dakar, Senegal. She reports across West Africa and beyond for anglophone and German media, often working as a one-woman band — directing, producing, shooting, and editing her documentaries independently. She also reports for radio and appears as an on-air correspondent in English and German. Her work focuses on the resilience of people affected by conflict, displacement, climate change, and political upheaval, and has been recognized by the Rory Peck Awards, the AIB Awards, and the Society of Editors.

Sira has over seven years of experience reporting from more than 35 countries, including high-risk and hostile environments. During her time as a BBC staff foreign news journalist, she covered the war in Ukraine from the very beginning of the invasion and led investigations into Russian war crimes that were cited by the UN Security Council. Working across BBC bureaux in Brussels, Kyiv, and Nairobi, she reported on many of the decade’s defining events for the BBC’s flagship TV, radio, and digital programmes.

Her reporting for the BBC ranged from EU and NATO summits and major political shifts to the Covid-19 pandemic, wildfires and floods, the famine in Madagascar, and the war in Ethiopia. Together with colleague Daniel De Simone, she co-reported the investigation The Abuser Working for MI5, which was presented before the British High Court in an unprecedented attempt by the UK government to block publication and prevent the exposure of an intelligence agent accused of abusing women. She continues to contribute regularly to the BBC as a freelance reporter, including for Radio 4 and the World Service.

After leaving the BBC, Sira began focusing more extensively on long-form documentary filmmaking and reporting from across the African continent. She regularly publishes with international and German outlets including BBC, DW, NPR, ARD, VOA, France24, NZZ, Deutschlandfunk, ZDF, and ARTE. Her most recent investigative documentary, Putin’s Power Play in Africa, explores Russia’s expanding influence in the Sahel and was filmed under extremely dangerous conditions. Alongside her editorial work, Sira also works as a director of photography and visual storyteller on selected projects for international organisations and commercial clients, including Google DeepMind, the Gates Foundation, UN Women, and Action Against Hunger.

HEFAT-trained and fluent in English, German, French, and Dutch, Sira holds a master’s degree in International Security and Journalism from Sciences Po Paris, as well as a bachelor’s degree in political science and law. She is based in West Africa and available for assignments worldwide.