A cross section of 40 journalists and media practitioners drawn from various media houses across Nigeria have undergone a two day training on understanding the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) resolutions in Nigeria.
The programme is to sharpen their skills and provide adequate reportage as well as draw the attention of policy makers and the general public on women’s activities and their key role in the society.
Facilitators at the training, held in Abuja, urged journalists to possess requisite skills on reporting issues affecting women while they challenged media organisations to dedicate more space and programmes that ensures that women opinions on issues of peace and conflict resolutions are accentuated.
The capacity building exercise was organised by the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) in partnership with the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP) and support from the Global Affairs Canada with the theme ‘Media and the Implementation of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Resolutions in Nigeria’.
National coordinator of WANEP in Nigeria, Chief Mrs. Bridget Osakwe, said WANEP facilitates such platforms for concerted structural and social reforms amongst societies in West Africa sub region and works toward achieving the streamlined thematic programmes.
Bridget said the thematic areas covers: the Women in Peace building, the Non Violence and Peace Education, Research and Documentation, Democracy and Good Governance, and Early Warning and Early Response.’’
Chief Executive Officer of Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP), Mavic Cabrera-Balleza, affirmed that such capacity building is imperative because “women are disproportionately represented in most of the media platforms globally.’’
Also speaking, Head of Programmes WENAP, Patience Ikpeh Obaulo, who spoke on the Role of the Media in Implementing Women, Peace and Security (WPS), noted that the resolution was important because women had long being left behind when it came to decision making.
