Media Training by HCRRUN for Better Support of the Reparations Program

The High Commission for Reconciliation and Strengthening National Unity (HCRRUN) launched a series of capacity-building workshops for media professionals in Lomé on Tuesday, November 13, 2018, with a view to strengthening media support for the reparations programme. Organised with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), these workshops aim to enhance the capacities of media practitioners in preparation for the next phase of victim compensation and assistance.

During this first two-day session, print media journalists received training on a range of topics, including transitional justice, the origins and mandate of HCRRUN, the various stages of victim assistance, and the role of journalists in supporting the implementation of the reparations programme.

The same topics will be covered during subsequent sessions for online media journalists on Thursday, November 15, and Friday, November 16; for radio and television journalists from Lomé and the Maritime Region on Tuesday, November 20, and Wednesday, November 21; and finally in Kara on November 23 and 24 for journalists from media outlets in the country’s inland regions.

Representing the Government at the opening ceremony, Mr Guy Madjé Lorenzo, Minister of Communication, Culture, Sports and Civic Education, called on journalists to exercise professionalism and responsibility in the performance of their duties. “You bear a significant responsibility before history as both actors and witnesses in the implementation of the compensation component of the Reparations Programme. To a large extent, your reporting will influence how victims perceive the mission entrusted to HCRRUN by the Head of State,” he stated.

In officially opening the training sessions, Mrs Awa Nana-Daboya, President of HCRRUN, recalled that the evaluation of the pilot phase of compensation had revealed a number of shortcomings in media coverage. These findings underscored the need for such capacity-building workshops to better prepare media professionals for the upcoming phases of the programme.

Mr Mactar Fall, representing the UNDP Resident Representative in Togo, welcomed this initiative of HCRRUN and reaffirmed UNDP’s commitment to supporting the Institution in the fulfilment of its mandate.