Africa-Press – Uganda. The Catholic Church has organised a five-day workshop in Kampala to equip journalists and media practitioners from across Africa on effective and efficient reporting on migrants and refugees.
Speaking during the opening ceremony in Kampala yesterday, the chairperson of the Episcopal Conference, Rev Bishop Antony Zziwa, said the workshop is aimed at ensuring objective representation of the refugee communities in Africa.
He said the theme of the workshop, “Effective and efficient reporting on migrants and refugees”, is very pertinent to Uganda since it is one of the countries with a huge number of refugees who have been not given enough media attention.
“We have seen several media reports, negatively representing the refugee communities, but we are hopeful that by the end of this workshop, the trainees will be able to report objectively about the refugee communities, especially, highlighting the good hospitality and services they are enjoying in Uganda,” he said.
The training, which has attracted participants from more than 10 African countries such as Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Côte d’ ivoire, Zambia and Uganda (host), among others is organised by SIGNIS-Africa, an arm of SIGNIS, a Catholic association for communication.
The Prime Minister, Ms Robinah Nabbanja, who was represented by the State minister for Teso Affairs, Mr Kenneth Obote, said media practitioners must ensure a positive and accurate representation of the migrant refugees to avert likely conflicts between refugees and host communities.
“Migration is a global issue and it can be complicated by the growing problem of misinformation and disinformation,” Ms Nabbanja said.
“Unprofessional reporting about migration may not only be a source of conflict between the refugees and the host communities but it may also complicate efforts to restore peace to the homeland of the exiled population,” she added.
She further noted: “The training on migrants and refugees reporting is timely and helpful. It is important to note that no one chooses to be a refugee, therefore, they are human beings who also need to be accurately represented.”
Ms Helen Osman, the president of SIGNIS, said refugees need special media representation since majority of them are young people with a lot of responsibilities amid efforts to have a better future.
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