Promoting peace, tolerance on campuses discussed

LAHORE:Media persons from wider shades of print, electronic and digital forms, stressed the need to sensitise the administrations, faculty and students in the educational institutions to respect the ethno-cultural-religious diversities at the campuses to promote peace, tolerance and inclusivity in the society.

The journalists were speaking at a training workshop for media personnel to help identify the ways and means for engaging, administrations, faculty and students of the universities for promoting peace, tolerance and inclusivity at the campuses, held jointly by Shaoor Foundation for Education and Awareness (SEFA), in collaboration with National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) and Paigham-e-Pakistan, under a project titled PACT (Peace, Advocacy and Community Engagement through Transformation).

The participants emphasised on wider coverage of social issues highlighting the root causes of intolerance and its manifestations on the ground level. PACT has reached out to 73 universities in four provinces and as a result of its activities is developing a policy document and methodology of its implementation, said Shahzad Iqbal, PACT programme head and the lead trainer. He urged for an enhanced role of media as an important stakeholder to bring peace and tranquility in society.

This series of five trainings across all four provincial capitals and federal level aims to enhance capacity of more than 100 media representatives on peace, tolerance, and inclusivity related issues within university campuses, said Shahzad. This training also set to develop four regional as well as a national level media advisory group that will generate meaningful debate in the media and positive policy intervention at provincial and national levels, he added.

Talking at the occasion, senior journalist Umer Rehman lauded the efforts of Shaoor Foundation and called it “the first step” towards a peaceful future. He said that events like these are the need of the hour and focusing universities is the perfect strategy to curb the menace of extremism and intolerance.