Journalists urged to lead in promoting social protection programs

Journalists in the country have been asked to take a leading role in disseminating information on operations of various social protection programs in the country.

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Deputy Director of Social Welfare responsible for Social Cash Transfer in the Ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare Lawrent Kansinjiro made the call on Thursday in Mzuzu, during an orientation meeting for journalists.

Kansinjiro noted that there are a lot of misconceptions about the programs hence the need for journalists to report more on the positive impacts it has achieved.

“The media has a huge responsibility of educating masses of the procedures in the social protection programs and how they can positively benefit from them.

“There are a lot of misinformation in the media concerning the programs, however if you go on the ground you will find out that a lot of households are benefiting,” he said.

While acknowledging that the ministry receives quite a number of queries on challenges faced in administration of the program, Kansinjiro was quick to disclose that they have put up several measures to counter the challenges.

“Currently, we have set up a system where once it is discovered that someone who was not supposed to benefit is benefiting, we are quick to take them out of the system and immediately replace them with a rightful beneficiary.

“We are also operating a toll-free line where citizens can make reports on system abnormalities and we are quick to investigate and act on them,” he said.

One of the participants, Monalisa Gondwe appreciated the ministry for organising the training which she said has helped them to understand how the social protection programs operate and their progress.

“Knowledge is power. For journalists to give out proper and correct information, they need to be familiar with the information they are sending out.

“Knowing how the system operates will also enable journalists to balance up their stories when writing about social protection programs,” she said.