CDD Tasks Journalists on Strategic Communication to Prevent Conflict

Francis Sardauna in Katsina

The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) West Africa has urged journalists in Katsina State to deploy strategic communication as a tool for preventing conflict and promoting peaceful coexistence.

The CDD Regional Programme Manager, John Nanfa Lazing, who gave the charge at a two-day training on Strategic Communication in Conflict Environment, implored them to amplify peace in their reportage rather than creating tensions.

The capacity building training was organised by CDD through its Conflict Prevention, Crisis Response and Resilience programme, in collaboration with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and Mercy Corps, with funding from the European Union (EU).

Lazing explained that strategic communication does not always require confronting issues head-on, but rather engaging narratives and messages that mitigate tensions before they escalate.

“We are interested in how information dissemination will shift conflict towards resolution. Strategic communication means we may not talk about the issue directly, but about something that prevents the issue from emerging in the first place,” he said.

He further noted that such preventive communication strategies could play a critical role in stopping conflicts before they occur, particularly in fragile and conflict-prone communities.

He added that the training reflects CDD’s broader efforts in implementing non-kinetic measures to strengthen peacebuilding initiatives through responsible communication and proactive engagement.

In his presentations, the Resource Person, Mohammed Dahiru Lawal, urged journalists to always verify and investigate the authenticity of their news items before publication.

He noted that fact-checking, objectivity and balancing should remain the guiding ethics of practising journalists to avert misinformation, disinformation and malicious publications that will trigger conflicts in the country.