In a bid to foster peace and security through journalism, the HumAngle Foundation, a sister-organisation of HumAngle Media, on Wednesday, April 23, commenced a specialised training programme for 15 journalists across Nigerian newsrooms. 

The project, tagged “Advancing Peace and Security Through Journalism,” is supported by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and seeks to equip journalists with innovative tools and techniques to address the evident conflict-sensitive issues in Nigeria.

HumAngle’s Founder and CEO, Ahmad Salkida, while welcoming the participants, encouraged them to embrace the spirit of their diversity in learning and using the skills to advance peace and security in the country.

“Tighten up your shoelaces because this isn’t just going to be a workshop; it is going to be a mission and days of impact,” he noted.

The training, which spans three days, focuses on enhancing the capacity of journalists in the use of technology and innovative approaches to not only promote peacebuilding, accountability, and risk mitigation, but also promote good governance.

Participants will also delve into human-centred storytelling and conflict-sensitive and investigative reporting, all while learning strategies for newsroom sustainability and security risk assessment.

Angela Umoru-David, the Director of the HumAngle Foundation, says the workshop is aimed at using HumAngle’s institutional knowledge of covering conflict, humanitarian, and development issues to bridge the gap in conflict reporting and training journalists to advance peace through journalism.

“Conflict in Nigeria is not one way. It’s spread across the different regions of the country; that is why we are empowering journalists with the knowledge and tools that they can employ in advancing peace and security using journalism, irrespective of their newsroom.”

“We want to ensure that when there is increased coverage in the areas of peace and security, we can then move forward to stability and deepen the resilience in affected communities. That is why we deliberately selected the participants from the different states of the country,” she added.

Umoru-David added that the workshop is not a one-off activity; there will be follow-up sessions that will encourage participants to share the knowledge gathered through step-down training sessions at their respective organisations.

In the coming days, the participants will learn from experts in the areas of conflict, financial sustainability, and solutions-centred journalism. For today’s sessions, they learned from facilitators like Hauwa Shaffii Nuhu, Managing Editor of HumAngle Media, who focused on the basics of conflict reporting; 

Deji Adekunle, Programme Director at Nigeria Media Innovation Program, who taught participants financial sustainability for newsroom operations; and Chibuike Alagboso, the Director of Media Programmes, Nigeria Health Watch, who led a session on solutions and human-centred reporting.

HumAngle Foundation was established in 2022 to address the human fallout of insecurity and conflict in Africa through advocacy. This latest initiative underscores its commitment to empowering media professionals to leverage journalism as a tool for societal transformation, ensuring that stories of empowerment and resilience take centre stage in the narrative of conflict resolution, promoting peace-building, accountability, and good governance.