JOURNALISTS TRAINED IN PEACE-BUILDING (PAGE 34, JUNE 7, 2011)

FIFTEEN journalists selected from the three Northern Regions have completed the second in a series of training programmes on peace-building.
The training, which took place in Tamale, was designed towards building the capacity of the journalists to promote peace journalism instead of focusing on the violent aspects of conflicts.
Peace journalism, which is relatively new, is described as a type of journalism that unravels the root causes of conflicts and explores avenues for resolution.
The training programme was organised by the Rural Media Network (RUMNET), a grassroots media and rights-based advocacy organisation, with funding from the Sustainable Peace Initiative.
Speaking at the opening of the training, the Executive Director of the RUMNET, Mr Abdullah Kassim noted that the media could play a very important role in the process of peace-building by being a critical partner in promoting a culture of peace and non-violence.
“The media has both the capacity to promote peace and to trigger escalation of conflict and violence. Whatever a journalist does in his or her work has an effect on a society and influences the behaviour of individuals and groups,” he explained.
Mr Kassim said RUMNET had therefore embarked on the training following the realisation that conflicts in the north were sometimes exacerbated by unprofessional media reports.
“Our main goal is to groom a new crop of journalists who would be very sensitive and circumspect in their reportage on conflicts and would contribute to peace-building rather than worsening the conflicts,” he noted.
One of the lead facilitators, Mr Albert Yelyang of the Ghana Network for Peace-building (GHANEP) entreated the participants to promote conflict early warning systems, since timely interventions could stem the degeneration of conflicts.
He described early warning as the systematic collection and analysis of data for formulation of recommendations, adding that using this method to tackle conflicts would prevent an escalation of conflicts.
“When conflicts degenerate into violence, they become more difficult and costly to manage and therefore all of us must work towards prevent this scenario,” he added.
At the end of the training, some of the participants told the Daily Graphic that the training would make a difference in their reportage and discussions on conflicts.
“The early warning and conflict analysis would help me to report more properly on conflicts in the Upper East region, such as the one in Bawku,” Mr Samuel Akapule of the GNA in Bolga stated.
A correspondent for Citi FM, Mr Karim Nantogma noted that the workshop had exposed him to broad issues with regards to conflicts and its management or resolution.
“I now understand that as a journalist, I must go beyond reporting only the violent aspects of conflicts, but to dig deeper to unravel and analyse the root causes of these conflicts and thereby offer suggestions for peaceful resolution,” he explained.