Abuja: The ECOWAS Early Warning Response Network (ECOWARN) has organized a three-day capacity building workshop for its Field and Media Monitors in Abuja. Participants have been drawn from countries including Benin, Cape Verde, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Ghana, Liberia, Cote D’Ivoire, the Gambia, Togo, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. The workshop aims to enhance the skills of the Monitors to keep them updated with current early warning signs to integrate into ECOWAS systems.

According to Ghana News Agency, during the three-day workshop, attendees will be educated on various topics. These include ECOWARN event types and parameters, the importance of data accuracy in early warnings, and methods for detecting and cross-checking facts and figures. Additional areas of focus are detecting and managing misinformation and disinformation, understanding ECOWAS human security and analyst frameworks, and promoting social inclusion in data collection.

Dr. Onyinye Nkechi Onwuka, Acting Director of Ecowarn, addressed the participants, emphasizing the importance of adhering to monitoring and reporting standards, as errors could misrepresent ground realities. She highlighted the shared goal of safety and the need for vigilance in transforming abstract data into actionable insights. Dr. Onwuka also urged the Monitors to network effectively to produce reports beneficial to society and policymakers, stressing that data accuracy is crucial and cautioning against hastily reporting inaccurate information, which could hinder progress.

In addition to Dr. Onwuka, other facilitators at the workshop include Marcel Bossou, Alice Kola-Solomon, Bengaline Erin, Ismaila Gueye, Olatunji Olonode, and Nantene Coulibaly.