Roundtable discussion on conflict prevention, resolution for editors ends in Accra

A regional roundtable on inclusive journalism for senior media professionals and editors has ended in Accra.

 It was necessitated to build their capacity on raising awareness of conflict prevention and resolution, root causes of conflicts, their consequences, the situation of minority groups, migrants and internally displaced persons (IDPs) as key elements in peace building

It was organised by the Media Platform on Environment and Climate Change(MPEC) with funding from the European Union(EU) under the implementation of ‘Engaging Media and Minorities to Act for Peace building’ (EMMAP) programme.

Held on the theme: “Media Response to Conflict, Migration and Minority Rights: Perspectives on Community Livelihood”, the training had about 30 media professionals from Ghana, Sierra Leone and Senegal participating in the roundtable discussion.

The Executive Director of MPEC, Ama Kudom-Agyemang, bemoaned the plight of minority groups in the country and called for efforts to help address their challenges and urged the media to continue to amplify the voices of under-served populations including head potters among others.

“The media have a big voice and that is why we want to build their capacity to use such voice to champion the needs and rights of the minority in society,” she said.

The Director-General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), Professor Amin Alhassan, said it was very unfortunate that the media, expected to sensitise the public on the importance of peace in national development rather articulate and publish issues which could create violence.

He observed that a lot of misunderstanding between groups end up in very awful situations since many people seem to comprehend hostility to be the only solution to problems however, crises could easily be avoided “if the media tries to be sensitive to prompt leaders on issues blowing up in their communities for quick resolution before the unfortunate happens”.

He indicated that studies showed that only few media houses in Africa propagated peace and told those who were adamant that their actions could induce violence and entreated journalist to be perfect examples in promoting probity, accountability, good governance and transparency.

BY BENEDICTA GYIMAAH FOLLEY