Organisation trains journalists on migration communication
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in collaboration with European Union and United Nations Organisation on Drugs and Crime is training journalists on migration communication in order to add value to their technical capacity in migration and development reportage.
The training according to the Federal Commissioner National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons, Hajiya Hadiza Sani-Kangiwa, is part of the advocacy activity aimed at galvanising the support needed for the adoption of draft national migration policy.
Speaking at the opening of the workshop in Abuja yesterday, SaniKangiwa noted that migration is increasingly coming into sharp focus on the global agenda.
According to her, migration is recognised as a powerful vehicle for boosting development in both countries of origin and destination as illustrated in the 2012 report of the UN system task team on the post-2015 UN development agenda.
She added that there has been an entire process for elaborating the policy documents saying the process would not be completed without engaging the media who hold the conscience of the society and are required to persuade government to give prompt approval to the migration policy.
The commissioner also said the training also attempts to make media practitioners appreciate the impact of migration on development and shift focus towards ensuring that migration features prominently in national discuss and an issue of national priority.
Earlier, Chief of Mission, International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Sanya Lily who described migration as man’s oldest action against poverty said it is important for the organisation to discuss the negative and positive aspect of migration and correct the mistake of internally displaced persons with refugees.
“Regufees are different from internally displaced Persons because somebody cannot be a refugee in his or her own country of origin. This and many more are what we are out to achieve,” she said.