PHOTO: Participants attending the training
By J. Peter S. Dennis, dennisrealone@gmail.com/ Cell #: 0888958945
GBARNGA, Liberia- Journalists from the Central and northern regions of Liberia are currently benefiting a two-day capacity and legal training in Gbarnga, Bong County, which began today, Thursday.
The over 50 journalists are drawn from Bong, Lofa and Nimba Counties.
The project is implemented by the Volunteers for Sustainable Development in Africa (VOSIEDA) in partnership with the Press Union of Liberia (PUL) and the Department of Communication and Media Studies at the University of Liberia. The project is funded by the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF).
The training is being held under the theme: Strengthening Independent Meida and the Freedom of Information in Liberia aimed at promoting Journalists personal safety and security.
The training is directly focused on Legal Know-How, personal safety, and Security in Reporting from conflicts and Dangerous Zones, according to its Program Manager, Mrs. Sadatu Konneh Fahnbulleh.
Mrs. Fahnbulleh said the project aims to improve the environment for press freedom, journalistic safety, and self-regulation through favorable policies and practices; and enhanced journalists’ and CSO’s awareness and networking.
Mrs. Sadatu Fahnbulleh
She however, maintained that the project will also foster active citizen demand for transparency of the media and of government activities while bolstering CSOs, media, and government collaborations in accessing and using public data. The project will train 200 journalists of which 70% are of women Journalists.
The VOSIEDA program boss believes that despite existing constitutional provisions that guarantee freedom of expression and of the press and a FOI Law that Liberia enacted in 2010, more journalists have been attacked and many more harassed and intimidated, while performing their duties.
These incidents have a detrimental effect on freedom of information and the press’s ability to report on facts on the ground safely, she said.
Even though annual statistics on the number of crimes against Liberian journalists are unavailable, there are innumerable cases of said occurrences. In March 2020, the Press Union of Liberia presented a petition to the Liberian Legislature, calling on the government to speedily investigate complaints of unprecedented wave of attacks on media workers and institutions allegedly perpetrated by state security apparatus from across the country.
The project is being implemented in five counties; namely, Bong, Lofa, Margibi, Nimba and Montserrado counties. Margibi and Montserrado in zone one, while Bong, Nimba and Lofa are in zone two.
Also speaking at the occasion, the Pres Union of Liberia Bong county Coordinator, Mr. Samuel Kplawriu lauded the team for the initiative thus describing it as impartful.
According to him, capacity is key, thus stressing the needs for continuous impactful training.
He then called on journalists to foster their relationship with others.
In similar remarks, the regional coordinator of the Press Union of Liberia Mr. Joseph Kerkulah expresses the PUL’s commitment to working and protecting journalists in the region.
A representative from the UL’s Communication Department, Mr. Weah Karpieh also appreciated VOSIEDA for the Legal-how training.
For his part, the commissional of the Independent Information Commission, Cllr. Mark Freeman called for proper representative of journalists in public gathering.
Mr. Josephus Domian, who is the Administrative Assistant to Bong County Superintendent, observed and alleged that some journalists are misusing their power by reporting against government officials.
For their parts, some of the participants extolled VOSIEDA and partners for the workshop.
They promised to make effectve use of the knowledge acquired.
The workshop ends on Friday, December 3, 2021 here in Gbarnga.