By Lucky Ekpenriebe
The Institute of Development Communication (ISDEVCOM) at Nasarawa State University, Keffi, on Monday, announced a two-day international conference on deploying development communication in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by 2030.
With the theme: ‘Strategic Security and Health Communication for Sustainable Development’, the conference is scheduled to hold from October 28 to 29, 2021, on the campus of the university.
In a statement to the media, Uzoma Onyegbadue, Chairman, Conference Organising Committee, noted that the conference is being held against the backdrop of the need for sustainable development, especially in developing countries in Africa like Nigeria.
Onyegbadue further said, “This has become both imperative and urgent in view of the poor milestones so far recorded in the march towards attaining the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by 2030.
“While the fundamental role of communication in propelling the drive towards sustainable national development is, without doubt, grossly under-explored in Africa, development communication is however, vital in providing a guide for people to have a full understanding of their own needs, their current situation, and their options for change.”
In his remark, the Executive Director of the Institute and convener of the Conference, Professor Emmanuel Dandaura, said that the event, which is the third of its kind, “is aimed at reflecting on ways in which development communication can be strategically employed in various spheres of our national life to catalyse sustainable national development by engaging stakeholders and policy makers, while promoting information exchange to create positive social change.”
Dandaura said, “Special focus will be given to participation of government agencies and non-governmental organisations involved in youth mental health, drug abuse and control, maternal and child health, education, family planning, anti-malaria as well as advocacy and intervention for HIV and AIDS, COVID-19.”
To deliberate on these issues, the Professor said that diverse resources from the academia, professionals and practitioners of development communication, policy makers, non-governmental and other civil society organisations, key government institutions and the media, are coming together to share knowledge on a wide range of sub-themes.
The conference is expected to host dignitaries like Rtd. Gen. Buba Marwa, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA); Shubham Chaudhuri, World Bank Nigeria Country Director, and Otive Igbuzor, founding Executive Director, African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development (Centre LSD), who is also the Chief of Staff to the Deputy Senate President.
Sub-themes for the conference include ‘Drug abuse and behaviour change communication in Nigeria;’ ‘Strategic Communication as a non-kinetic approach to internal security management,’ and ‘Covid-19 and the new lessons in development communication,’ among others.
