Barrister Mary Musa facilitating a training session for journalists in Abuja on reporting for deepening the implementation of the 2018 ACT.
By Julian Osamoto
A disability Rights Advocate, Mary Musa has called on media professionals to ensure accurate and balance reportage of Persons With Disabilities (PWDs), across levels.
She said implementing the 2018 Discrimination Against Persons With Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, is a significant step towards advancing disability rights in Nigeria.
Musa who is also a person with visual impairment made the call at the training for journalists in Abuja on reporting for deepening the implementation of the 2018 ACT.
She suggested that, “Continued efforts are needed to raise awareness, strengthen implementation, and address existing challenges, through collaboration among government, civil society organizations, and the media towards creating an inclusive society for PWDs”.
The training organized by the Global Initiative for Civil Stabilization (GICS) an NGO, with support from the Embassy of Switzerland in Nigeria spotlights the challenges with complementation of the Act.
According to the organisers, the training became necessary to change the narrative of negative stereotypes of PWDs which have been allowed to penetrate the mainstream media.
In a remarks the Chief Execute Officer of GICS, Muhammad Al-Mansur explained that majority of Nigerians were ignorant of the existence of the Act and the fines attached to the various violations of the rights of PWDs.
Al-Mansur was optimism that the workshop would spur a series of investigative reports from the trained journalists on the violation of PWDs rights across the nation.
In his presentation, a development and communication expert, Mr Odoh Okenyodo, emphasized on the need to allow PWDs tell their stories from their own perspectives rather than speaking for them.
Okenyodo also advised that the disability of a person should not be placed before their personalities hence the need to employ appropriate terminology in reporting issues of PWDs.
He, however urged media professionals to imbibe digital storytelling style of reporting especially on PWDs, to strengthen the campaign on rights of persons with disabilities.
Over 20 Journalists and content creators across the electronic and print media participated in the training.
