By Ijeoma Agbafo
The Sustainable Urban and Rural Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (SURWASH) Programme has trained communication officers on strategic communication, impact storytelling, ethical reporting and digital publishing.
The two-day workshop, held in Abuja, focused on story development, humanising data, digital content creation and the management of the programme’s Blog Content Management System.
The SURWASH Programme Coordinator, Mr Abdulhamid Gwaram, represented by Mr David Oyedokun, said communication officers played an important role in documenting the impact of interventions. He said communication should highlight human experiences, lessons, innovations and successes beyond infrastructure delivery.
A World Bank Task Team Lead, Ms Awa Diagne, said the training would strengthen participants’ ability to identify impactful stories, develop engaging content and publish through the programme’s content management system.
Other facilitators also stressed the importance of informed consent, ethical reporting and protecting vulnerable people when telling development stories. The workshop featured practical sessions on storytelling, lead writing, humanising data, peer reviews and coaching.
Participants were encouraged to produce human-interest stories highlighting SURWASH interventions and their impact on communities, while the programme reaffirmed the importance of effective communication in improving water, sanitation and hygiene services.
