12–14 June 2017, Dakar (Senegal)
CFG takes part in the seminar “Media and the Prevention of Violence and Violent Extremism in West Africa and the Sahel”
12–14 June 2017, Dakar (Senegal)
Abdoulaye Bâ, representative of the Cordoba Foundation of Geneva (CFG) for the Sahel and the Lake Chad basin countries, took part in the regional seminar on the role of journalists and the media in preventing violence and violent extremism in West Africa and the Sahel, held in Dakar (Senegal) from 12 to 14 June 2017. The seminar put into practice the strong recommendations made at the end of the Conversation Days held in Dakar (2016) and N’Djamena (2017) under the title “Investing in peace and the prevention of violence in the Sahel-Sahara”.
The seminar “Media and the prevention of violence and violent extremism in West Africa and the Sahel” was organised jointly by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) and the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS). It brought together some thirty participants from West and Central Africa with varied profiles: journalists, communicators, media professionals and some representatives of women’s and youth associations and of regional and international organisations. Together, they considered how journalists and the media in the subregion could best act actively and in a coordinated way to prevent violent extremism, working in line with their professional ethics with all the actors concerned, including the governments of the region, local authorities and communities.
At the end of the proceedings, a Network of Journalists for the Prevention of Violent Extremism in West Africa and the Sahel was launched. Its activities will begin in the coming months.
Taking part in the seminar gave Mr Bâ the opportunity to explain the CFG’s orientations and objectives. He argued for making this kind of seminar more inclusive, in particular by involving journalists working in Arabic, who are better placed to understand the subtleties of the literature on violent extremism. He also stressed the importance for journalists in the subregion of becoming familiar with conflict-analysis tools – an introduction that could take the form of conflict-transformation training delivered by experts such as the CFG and its partners.
