ATMIS Public Information Officers train on communication for mission activities

Twenty newly rotated Public Information Officers from African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) have honed their skills on effective communication for mission activities. 

 

The twenty officers, drawn from military, police and civilian units from the Troop and Police contributing countries, focused on diverse topics including the ATMIS communication strategy, Crises communication, and trends in Digital Media at a two-day training which concluded on Tuesday. 

“Strategic communication is important to providing visibility for the mission as we deliver on the ATMIS Mandate. It helps us to provide visibility, transparency, and accountability on how we are delivering the mandate. Gaining and maintaining public trust, confidence and active support for the mission is key to our operations,” said the ATMIS Senior Communications Officer, Gifty Bingley at the start of the training on Monday. 

Other discussions included public engagement, channel and content management, news writing and lessons learnt – all of which will help the participants to better convey the mission’s mandate, activities, and programmes from the components and within the Troop and Police Contributing countries. 

The officers were appreciative of the training and pledged to apply the knowledge to bolster understanding and support for the mission. 

Superintendent Moses Joe, a Public Information Officer based in Kismayo, described the training as timely coming at a time when they have just rotated into the mission. 

“It is a great privilege to participate in this training which will help us enhance the visibility of ATMIS activities in Somalia,” noted Supt. Joe. “The takeaway for me is the effective use of social media to coherently and consistently highlight the activities of ATMIS.” 

Sgt. Linda Atieno from the ATMIS military component termed the training as an eye-opener, particularly the discussions on lessons learnt over the years. 

“We have acquired a lot of knowledge from this workshop which will help us ensure activities in our sectors are more visible to the Somali public and across the world,” said Sgt. Atieno. 

ATMIS operates across six Areas of Responsibility in Somalia that are manned by troops from five Troop Contributing Countries (TCCs) from Burundi, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, and Uganda as well police officers from four Police Contributing Countries (PCCs) of Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Uganda.

(With Inputs from APO)