 |
| Rep of the Hon. Comm. information Yobe State, Hajiya Husna presenting her speech at the training. she is being watched by Grace Oguntade, Mercy Corps Communication specialists |
From JOE Hemba
The Yobe Government and Mercy Corps Nigeria, an International Organization has partnered to train Journalists in the State on mis/disinformation around covid-19 vaccines.
ImpactOnlineNigeria checks revealed that, Mercy Corps Nigeria and CARE International as members of the INGO Collaborative are implementing behavioral change campaign on COVID 19 Vaccine Access in various local government areas of Yobe State.
The two day training took place at the Desert Hall event centre Damaturu, Yobe State.
Declaring the 2 day training workshop open, the Hon. Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs Information and Culture Hon. Mohammed Lamin said the training was important as it will equip the journalists in the state with the right skills to send to the communities the appropriate message.
The commissioner who was represented by the Director of Information in the Ministry, Hajiya Husna Ibrahim, called on the participants to use the training so as to decimate accurate information to the general public on the COVID 19 vaccine.
He noted that the government of Hon. Mai Mala Buni places priority to health care delivery including its commitment to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic which has crippled giant global economies.
The commissioner regretted that vaccination is on going but a lot of vaccine wasteage is being recorded he laments attributing the waste to low turn out of people for the vaccine due to misinformation, disinformation or and common wrong believes around the vaccine.
To change this narrative, the commissioner said, “the media must use avenues available to educate and spread reliable, adequate and accurate information about COVID 19 and it's vaccines”.
He also disclosed that various activities and intervention such as advocacy and sensitization by medical team and social mobilization committee of the State under the Directorate of Information are carried out at the communities to improve the situation.
 |
| One of the journalists, Joel Duku making a contribution in the training |
Alhaji Lamin said the doors of Yobe State Government are wide open to partners who are ready to key into the laudable policies and programs of the state.
“This training is important and timely in achieving it's goals of reducing the spread of fake stories, achieve behavioural change and improve access to the vaccines. I thanks Marcy Corps and Partners for the training. I am calling on participants to make adequate use of the opportunity and knowledge from the training for the benefit of our communities,” the commissioner said.
Participants are drawn from various media organizations in the State including National Dailies and NTA as well as Special Assistants to the Governor on Social Media.
No comments:
Post a Comment