The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO), is organising a special training on effective Ebola reporting for journalists from 60 radio stations across Ghana.

The training is aimed at equipping the journalists with relevant knowledge and skills to enable them to do timely and accurate reporting on Ebola. The 60 radio stations are mainly from rural and border districts of Ghana as well as regional capitals. The training is focused on local radio stations because they remain the most effective information dissemination platform in rural communities and can therefore play an essential role in educating the public about the Ebola disease.

The training in Ghana is being organized with technical support from WHO and financial support from STAR-Ghana and the Norwegian Government and is scheduled for November 6 and 7, 2014 in Accra.

“This training is most critical at this time because, despite the important role of the media in public education, there has been little targeted and sustained radio programming on Ebola” said Mr. Sulemana Braimah, Executive Director of the MFWA.

As a major travel hub in the sub-region, Ghana – like many other countries in West Africa – is at high risk of infection. Community involvement is thus crucial in Ghana’s Ebola preparedness efforts.

“We want every person in this country empowered with adequate information to prevent infection from Ebola. Hence our partnership with Media Foundation West Africa, to reach out deep and wide” said Dr. Magda Robalo, WHO Representative.

This training is part of the MFWA’s special initiative to strengthen the Ghanaian media to be more active and effective in ongoing public education efforts. “We are particularly happy that the WHO and STAR-Ghana swiftly committed to supporting this training programme to increase the media’s capacity on effective Ebola reporting”, Mr. Braimah said.

As the leading media development NGO in West Africa, the MFWA is liaising with its national partners in the various West African countries, particularly in the three worst affected countries, to help strengthen the media’s capacity to do quality reporting and programming on the Ebola outbreak.