By: Alusine Rehme Wilson – (AR-Wilson)
As part of its project
implementation plan, the Bombali District Coalition on Disability (BDCD) with
support from catholic Canadian Organization for Development and Peace has
successfully ended a day’s training workshop with invited pressmen from both
Print and electronic media houses in Makeni over the weekend.
Since it was established in
2010 by coalition of Civil Society Organization, BDCD main focus has been glued
to advocacies and promotion of disability issues in mainly Bombali District,
with a vision of contributing and achieving accessible services, equal rights,
justice, wellbeing, safety and providing opportunities for Persons with
Disability in the Bombali District and the country at large.
The training which was
staged at the NMJD Makeni Office located at Sillah Street in Makeni City,
Bombali District Northern Sierra Leone featured dialogue sessions of questions
and answers between Trainers and Trainees on the theme: “Understanding Disability and the Media” as a path way of
popularizing the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability Act 2011.
The lead trainers of the
workshop were NMJD Makeni Director, Joseph Pukawa and BDCD Coordinator, Henry
Francis who spearhead discussions with Newspaper, Radio and Televisions Journalists
on:
Disability Writing and Journalism Guides, Avoiding Stereotypes, Disability Culture
and Community, words and phrases to use or not use, Social Media Versus Medical
Model and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disability Act 2011” were all looked into.
The training was very
educative and interesting said Williamina Burah Dumbya and Yusuf Sowa two of
the many participants of the workshop who revealed to this writer that Part V
of the U.N Persons with Disability (PWD) Act of 2011 has not only jogged their memories as Reporters but has also
educated and motivated them implement the ideas learnt from the one day
interactive training.
Sulaiman Sixty Kamara an
Experienced and Energetic Disable Activist, who is also a member of BDCD
expressed his anxiety and appreciation for the inclusion of members of the
fourth estate as the Project is rolling on gradually.
He further said that this
is a perfect opportunity for them as PWDs for their voices to be heard with
support from Journalists who are News carriers, thereby enhancing an enabling
environment for inclusiveness of PWDs in all development sectors of the
country.
In an interview with
Northern Times, BDCD Coordinator Henry Francis commended Journalists for their
role over the years in promoting disability issues in their various media
houses and for being so responsive throughout the training.
He also said that participants
are expected to accelerate the rate at which they go in to discover, publish,
report and broadcast articles and stories centered around PWDs on Various
Newspapers, radio and Televisions of theirs.
Participants made
commitments to continue to educative the public to see PWDs as their
contemporaries in the development and democratization processes and not as inferiors in any society in the
Bombali District and nationwide.
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