Media practitioners working in cross-border communities have been urged to use the influence of radio to reduce tensions, counter misinformation and promote peaceful coexistence between farmers and herders.
Director of Changing Lives in Innovative Partnerships (CLIP), Lukman Yussif, said radio has significant influence over public opinion and community relations and must therefore be used responsibly, particularly in areas vulnerable to insecurity and resource-based conflicts.
He made the call at a two-day capacity-building workshop for selected media practitioners in Bolgatanga, organised by CLIP in partnership with Acting for Life (AFL).
The training forms part of the Project to Support Cross-border Communities Vulnerable to Insecurity and Fragility (ACTIF) in Ghana.
Mr. Yussif cautioned journalists about the potential consequences of irresponsible use of the media, citing Rwanda as an example of how radio has previously been used to fuel instability.
“For example, in Rwanda, where radio was used to destabilize the country. And you are media people, you know the story better,” he said.
He challenged media practitioners to instead use their platforms to promote stability and help create conditions that attract development to their communities.
“So in our own small way, how can we utilize the power that we have in a way that our communities remain stable, in a way that our communities are able to project themselves to be seen as possible places where strangers can come and support and develop our places.”
As part of ACTIF’s peacebuilding and natural resource management interventions, selected media practitioners from the project’s intervention districts are being trained in agropastoralism, natural resource governance and farmer-herder relations.
The training is intended to equip journalists with the knowledge and skills to facilitate accurate, balanced and constructive public discussions on farmer-herder relations and the sustainable management of shared natural resources.
The ACTIF project is being implemented in selected cross-border districts in northern Ghana to address insecurity, fragility and resource-based conflicts involving farmers and herders.
Organisers say stronger media engagement could help reduce misinformation, promote dialogue and strengthen social cohesion in vulnerable communities.
A1 Radio | 101.1 MHz | David Azure | Bolgatanga
