By Ramatoulie Jawo
The National Social Protection Secretariat (NSPS), under the Office of the Vice President, held a day-long training on social protection reporting for 15 journalists from different media organizations on Thursday.
The training aims to increase participants’ understanding of social protection and the role of the National Social Protection System (NSPS). It will also bring together media stakeholders to discuss issues related to social protection reporting and messaging.
Musa L. Sonko, Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator at the Social Protection Secretariat, said in his opening remarks that journalists have an important role to play in the development of social protection in The Gambia.
He noted that everyone has a stake in social protection, and that journalists can help to raise awareness of the issue and ensure that the voices of those most affected are heard.
“That is why we felt that you are very important to us, and you can be our very important partner in the development of social programs issues in the Gambia.” He said Ebrima Njie, the Deputy Director of the Department of Information, emphasized the importance of the training, which would allow participants to connect with their development partners. He encouraged them to learn as much as possible from the resource persons so that they could report on social protection issues effectively and efficiently.
“The training is very important. Because if you expect people to report on your programs, they will report on it. Because they want to share information to enlighten the general public. But if you don’t train these people on your programs adequately to report, that is why some of you have reports that are not effectively and efficiently it what your programs are,” he said.
Muhammad S. Bah, President of the Gambia Press Union (GPU), said the training on social protection is very timely.
He noted that journalists have an important role to play in ensuring that the voices of the masses are heard, and that social protection is all about the people. He challenged journalists to ask relevant questions, engage with the Secretariat to clarify issues, and hold those in power accountable.
The Gambia Press Union (GPU) President said that journalists can highlight the gaps in the social protection system, expose inefficiency, and advocate for changes to improve the lives of vulnerable populations through their reporting on these programs.
As the Gambia Social Registry (SR) data collection continues, the training will help to raise awareness of the importance of registering in the SR.