By Ahmed Elumami.
Tripoli, 1 November 2013:
A group of Libyan journalists have been chosen to participate in a 12-day training programme on . . .[restrict]the role of media in helping build a civil society, in Poland’s capital Warsaw.
The course, aimed at journalists working in the Middle East and North Africa region, will focus on the role of media in building civil society. Areas to be covered by the programme include socio-political transformation and the role of media in helping to promote an institution of dialogue.
The training will include lectures and field visits to TV and radio channels, as well as Polish newsrooms. Participants have also been promised ample opportunities for sightseeing.
The media programme is the latest Polish contribution to Libya’s post-conflict transition. At the end of September, the Polish Embassy in Libya and the Polish and Libyan Ministries of the Foreign Affairs organised an eight-day training course entitled ‘Strategic Security Economic Needs and Security Exercise’ (S.E.N.S.E).
Through the use of a fictional country called Akrona, which has survived a devastating conflict, the course helped forty-five trainees develop and boost their teamwork and negotiation skills. It also aimed to help participants build the strategic vision to use any available opportunities to problem-solve in a post-conflict scenario.
Libyan political representatives attended, including members of the General National Congress (GNC) and employees from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Defence, Interior, and Justice. A number of journalists and workers from private companies and civil society organisations also took part.
“The experience was really great,” one S.E.N.S.E trainee, Azam Mohamed Kabeer, told the Libya Herald. The course, he said, was excellent proof of the cooperation between the two countries, as well the contribution Poland is making to help the Libyan people transition to a state of civil institutions and the rule of law.
He added that, as well as the training, the trip had provided the opportunity to find out more about the history and community of Poland. “Poland is a wonderful country,” he said.
The media training course will take place from 25 November to 5 December. [/restrict]
