Members of the Ghana Network on Environment, Society, Corporate and Accountability (GHANESCA), have undergone a two-day capacity building training in Kumasi to sharpen their advocacy skills to effectively reach their audience.
Representatives of 43 member organisations, drawn from the 16 regions of Ghana, attended the training with funding support from the Global Greengrants Fund (GGF).
The participants were taken through importance of media engagement and communication, understanding their audience, crafting a consistent message, choosing the right channel for dissemination, and utilising social media for outreach, among other topics.
They were also taught how to build relationships with journalists and media outlets, prepare press releases and media kits as well as promote human rights, gender and social inclusion.
The training was on the theme: “Strengthening Members’ Capacity for Efficient and Sustainable Organisations.”
Dr Frank Baffour-Ata, a resource person from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), said effective media engagement and communication were vital for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to achieve their mission and impact.
He said it was important for them to define clear objectives, target audiences, and choose relevant platforms for communication.
They must also adopt compelling narratives that resonate with their audience, humanising data and showcasing impact by using high quality images, videos and infographics.
By implementing these strategies, Dr Baffour-Ata said NGOs could amplify their reach, foster partnerships and drive positive change.
Dr Renee Aku Sitsofe Morhe of the KNUST Law Faculty, who led the discussion on human rights, gender and social inclusion, said NGOs had critical roles to play in upholding the fundamental human rights of citizens.
Non-governmental organizations must be at the forefront of efforts to change the narratives in terms of the blatant abuse of human rights, she said, and encouraged them to adopt rights-based approach to development in their advocacy to protect human rights at all levels of governance.
Mr Richard Adjei-Poku, an Environmental Scientist and Founder of GHANESCA, said the training was to build the capacity of member organisations to be efficient in their work.
He implored the participants to take advantage of it to make themselves visible in both traditional and social media with impactful messages.
Mr. Adjei-Poku, also a Grant Advisor of the West African Advisory Board of the Global Green Grants Fund, took members through the GGF grant application and reporting processes including good proposal writing.
