Garowe, July 4, 2023: The Media Association of Puntland (MAP) in partnership with the Free Press Unlimited (FPU) under the Danwadaag initiative has successfully concluded today in Garowe, a three-day tailored course on media role in Disaster risk management that was attended by Reporters, members of the MAP board of directors and staff.
The event was aimed at providing a capacity building on media role in disaster risk management with modules intended to give participants the vital skills to carry out their day-to-day tasks, but also provided a session to allow participants engage and brainstorm on current DRM issues that seek media attention.
Speaking at the opening session of the event, Mohamed Dahir Warsame underlined that in modern civilizations, the news media is responsible for a wide range of responsibilities, from fundamental ones like informing and educating to emerging ones that originate from interactions between the media and other social systems.
He also noted ‘’we gather here to take part of skill enhancement for those of us working in informing the public on the daily occurrences, this is a refresher course that follows a similar training held back in 2021. We will also discuss on issues with regards to disasters currently in Puntland and how the media could contribute to easing the situation”,- Said Mohamed Dahir Chair of MAP
Among others the course covered topics such as the 360-degree approach of DRM, Puntland DRM legal frameworks and the challenges on DRM in Puntland, and the international strategies for DRR such as Sendai framework and SDGs.
The last day of course opened discussions on Media role and DRM in Puntland, and the debate was guided by the media position paper published May 03, 2023.
Gaps in the Puntland DRM policy, issues with regards to access to information and challenges to reach remote locations especially those affected by the disasters were among the key areas highlighted during the dialogue held at the last day of the training.
The course was organised under the Danwadaag initiative that seeks to strengthen government legitimacy by promoting efficient and effective disaster risk management (DRM) based on information availability, inclusive policies, and services.
DRM is viewed as a means of improving the social compact between communities and government. The DW initiative is financed by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Nairobi and runs from 1 January 2021 until 31 March 2025.
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