Ahead of the 2023 elections, the International Press Centre (IPC) and the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) say they are poised to ensure optimum reportage of the forthcoming polls and deepen professionalism among women journalists.

This assertion was made by the Executive Director of IPC, Lagos, Nigeria, Lanre Arogundade, and the National President of NAWOJ, Ladi Bala, at a Two-Day Skill Enhancing and Capacity Building/Mentoring Session for Female Journalists on Monday, November 7, 2022, which held at Echelon Heights Hotel in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

About 35 female journalists from various media organizations are participating in the training which featured some media experts as resource persons.

In his speech at the event, Arogundade disclosed that the two organizations are collaborating to train female Journalists with a view to equipping them with necessary skills needed for an impactful, inclusive and public interest reporting in the 2023 elections.

“We are particularly happy that this workshop is being organised in partnership with the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), which underscores our joint commitment to building the capacity of female journalists so that they could be change agents in Nigeria’s democratic process”.

“I wish to thank and commend the leadership of NAWOJ under President Ladi Bala for sharing our vision as it continues to strive to make Journalism better for women journalists and women journalists better in Journalism”.

He stated that the event is being implemented by IPC in partnership with other organisations, listing key performance indicators that the European Union expects, revealing that the workshop for the Media was captured under the European Union Sustainable Development Goals in Nigeria (EU-SDGNII).

“As we have communicated to you all, however, this workshop is one of the activities being implemented by IPC, as lead partner, and the Institute for Media and Society (IMS) under Component 4: Support to Media of the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGNII) project”.

“For the media to serve as catalysts of credible elections without which democracy cannot be consolidated, the actions under the project seek to strengthen the media for fair, accurate, ethical and inclusive coverage of electoral processes in Nigeria”.

“In this regard, the European Union is looking forward to six results through its support for the media under EU-SDGNII. These are 1) The enhancement of the professionalism of media practitioners, especially women; 2) The strengthening of media professional capacity to deal with electoral misinformation/disinformation; 3) The enhancement of media platforms’ ability to diversify, deepen the coverage of the electoral process and deliver civic and voter education; 4) The improvement of media awareness and use of FOI Act for increased accountability; 5) The strengthening of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to perform its mandate; and 6) The improvement of media engagement in promoting women, youths and marginalized groups in politics.”

On her part, the National President of NAWOJ, Ladi Bala expressed her satisfaction and gratitude, disclosing that this was the first time NAWOJ was being carried along in such event, describing the EU’s support as “commendable”, expressing the hope that the workshop will achieve its set objectives.

“This feat is indeed a mile stone achievement. This is so because it is the first time NAWOJ is being officially recognized and engaged on an EU funded project through its media partners in Nigeria.”

“This laudable effort of EU is commendable and a clear testament of its commitment in building a strong and virile media space that will go a long way to strengthen democracy and promote good governance, the gesture is well appreciated by NAWOJ.”