The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has trained about thirty journalists working in some states of the North Eastern region of Nigeria.
The two-day training workshop that was organized by the organization which took place in Yola, Adamawa State capital drew journalists from four states of the region comprised of Adamawa, Borno, Gombe, and Taraba.
The workshop titled “Media Workshop on Humanitarian Reporting”, was aimed at equipping media practitioners with more knowledge on how to improve in reporting humanitarian issues of people affected by armed conflicts and other violence.
The Head of Sub Delegation ICRC, Charlie Coste in an interview shortly after the closing ceremony, described the media as a critical stakeholder who the Organization relied on for getting information on victims of conflicts and other violence for them to get access to the humanitarian services and the support they need.
Charlie Coste, however, explained that the idea of organizing the workshop was also to create a platform for mutual co-existence between the ICRC and the media to improve reportage on humanitarian matters by ensuring objectivity and accuracy.
One of the facilitators at the workshop and a public affairs analyst, Dr. Bala Muhammad who spoke on Journalists and Conflict reporting in Nigeria advised them to make the vulnerable people in the society the center of their stories instead of always emphasizing the perpetrators in the case of conflict or violence.
Dr. Bala Muhammad who is also a lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication at Bayero University Kano, appealed to journalists to enhance focus on humanitarian stories.
While commending ICRC for the workshop, Muhammed described the idea as timely, noting that everyone is a victim of one violence or the other.
According to him, conflicts and other violence against humanity were fast overwhelming Nigerians.
Chima Azubuke of the Punch Newspaper covering Gombe State, and Yagana Ali, Reporter of Dandal Kura Radio International in Adamawa State who were among the participants described the workshop as impactful and promised to apply the new techniques learnt in their humanitarian reportage.
There were other paper presentations on various topics by other facilitators during the workshop including the Basics of International Human Rights Law presented by the ICRC Legal Adviser, Sachie Phillip.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is an impartial, neutral and independent humanitarian organization, with the mandate to protect and assist victims of armed conflicts and other violence that are based in Nigeria since 1988.
Sani Sulaiman
