Mamadou Edrisa Njie, the Executive Directorr of GYIN Gambia has called on the members of the Gambia Empowered Person with Physically Challenged Organization (GEPPCO) to include Media and Information Literacy (MIL) in their work plan 2023 and beyond, thus mainstream it into their policies.
He made these statement recently during a daylong training with GEPPCO and its affiliated members at the GOVI hall in Kanifing. The program was a stepdown training designed to build the capacities of the membership.
The MIL training was funded by the UNESCO Dakar office, through the UN Peace Building Fund, with GYIN Gambia serving as the coordinating partner in the implementation of the project.
The MIL, according to Mr. Njie, will help the members to know, how and verify the types of information they receive and post in the media spaces, with meticulous consideration to mal-information, disinformation and misinformation.
He said these are all information that is giving the people trouble, instead of making best use of the media.
“This program is to inform GEPPCO member about MIL. The cornerstone of MIL is for us to ensure that the information that we obtain and post both on traditional media and the social media platforms are credible and authentic. These are things that are happening in our real life,” he added.
Speaking further, the GYIN boss narrated that during their recently concluded two days training of trainers on MIL for 40 youth from 20 organizations; out of the 20 organizations, only 14 understood what exactly MIL is and they had interest to integrate MIL in their activities, while the remaining 6 did not submit their proposals.
He said that the 14 proposals received, were reviewed by an independent team, and after which GEPPCO emerged as one of the 10 best proposals.
The 10 proposals, Mr. Njie said are proposals that can be implemented with or without funds saying “Because we are talking about the integration of MIL into their activities,”.
Also speaking on the occasion, Mr. Jabel Ceesay, of Gambia Association of the Physically Disabled (GAPD) said Media and Information Literacy training is very important as it avails, guarantees and empowers the persons with disabilities to effectively tell their stories with accuracy, authenticity, credibility and reliability.
He thanked UNESCO and GYIN Gambia for considering the persons with disabilities in their programs.
Also speaking at the official opening ceremony, Ms. Mariama Njie, Executive Director of GEPPCO told members of her organisation to take the training seriously. She thanked UNESCO Dakar through the UN Peacebuilding Fund for bankrolling the training.
