Jos, Plateau State – Media practitioners in Plateau State have been called upon to adopt conflict-sensitive reporting practices and actively promote freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) to enhance peace within Plateau communities.
This appeal was made during a three-day workshop organized by the Joint Initiative for Strategic Religious Action (JISRA) in Jos from Monday, July 15th to Wednesday, July 17th, 2024. The workshop, held at Crispan Hotel, focused on the critical role of the media in fostering interfaith relations and peacebuilding.
The primary aim of the workshop was to provide a safe platform for civil society organizations (CSOs) and media members to collaboratively devise strategies for promoting just and peaceful societies in Plateau State.
Speaking to journalists at the conclusion of the workshop, JISRA Country Coordinator Jude Likita emphasized the importance of conflict-sensitive reporting. “We want media practitioners to report religious issues in a manner that prevents conflict. In Nigeria, many conflicts have religious elements, and media coverage can either trigger violence or promote peace. This workshop is part of a five-year program started in 2021 to engage with the media and ensure they promote freedom of religion or belief peacefully.”
The workshop specifically focused on Plateau and Kaduna States due to their histories of religious conflict. Likita explained, “In these states, religion often becomes entangled in conflicts. Both Plateau and Kaduna are polarized along religious lines, making them focal points for our program. The goal is to show that religion is not necessarily the root cause of conflicts and to promote freedom of religion or belief.”
The JISRA program, a five-year initiative, is implemented in seven countries: Nigeria, Ethiopia, Mali, Kenya, Uganda, Indonesia, and Iraq. In Nigeria, the program operates in Kaduna and Plateau States through a consortium of international and national non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including Tearfund, Search for Common Ground, Mensen met een Missie (MM) represented by the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD), Development Initiative of West Africa (DIWA), Dialogue, Reconciliation and Peace (DREP), Federation of Muslim Women’s Associations in Nigeria (FOMWAN), Justice Peace and Reconciliation Movement (JPRM), RURCON (Rural Development Counsellors for Christian Churches in Africa), Scripture Union West Africa (SUWA), and Women’s Interfaith Council (WIC).
The workshop brought together media stakeholders from various organizations to brainstorm and learn new strategies for promoting FoRB with a focus on conflict sensitivity to build just and peaceful societies in Plateau State.
