The Diplomatic Call Team in a group photograph after the Launch.
The Diplomatic Call media organization on Friday April 11th 2014, unveiled its three-tie brand at a colorful ceremony at Holiday Inn Hotel in Accra.
The ceremony which attracted a host of diplomatic and corporate personalities sought to celebrate and acknowledge the efforts of the diplomatic community towards the socio-economic growth of Ghana.
The Diplomatic Call media organization consists of a fortnight publication, an online website and a 30-minute television series, all dedicated to highlighting on the various activities of foreign missions in Ghana.
The three platforms also aim to enlighten Ghanaians on the immense contribution of the diplomatic community to the socio-economic development of Ghana.
“There are over 126 foreign missions in Ghana; with four more to setup by the end of the year. However, for the average Ghanaian the word ‘embassy’ is only associated with visa application. We therefore seek to bridge the gap between the diplomatic community and the general public by highlighting on their activities which seems to receive little attention by the media in Ghana” said Mr. Yaw Oppong, Executive Director of Diplomatic Call.
The French Ambassador to Ghana, who was a guest speaker for the event, also stressed on the relationship between the media and diplomacy explaining that media has a vital role to play in enhancing diplomatic relations between their countries and foreign missions.
He however advised them to be circumspect in their reportages on diplomatic activities since diplomacy is quite a sensitive area of governance which demands the utmost level of cautiousness.
The special guest of the event, Hon. Murtala Mohammed, Deputy Minister for Information also commended the Diplomatic team for setting the pace in diplomatic reporting and encouraged the media organization to also seek to facilitate relations between Ghana and other countries.
Addressing guests at the ceremony, the Business Development Manager of Diplomatic Call, Mr. Baffour Agyemang Attafuah, revealed that “the event will further help to create awareness on the operations, challenges and the needs of the Orthopedic Training Centre (OTC) in Nsawam”, which he described as an institution “giving hope to the physically challenged in Ghana and West Africa.”
Sister Elizabeth Newman, Director of OTC, which is the first beneficiary of the Diplomatic Call Care Foundation (DCCF) project for the year 2014, stressed on the role of the media in ensuring developmental cooperation in society.
According to her “isolated communities and individuals can be supported if the media can be used as an important platform for communicating messages to people who have the capacity to provide assistance but are unaware of the challenges they face, by creating links between social institutions and the prominent members of the society.”
Sister Newman therefore applauded Diplomatic Call for establishing its own Corporate Social Responsibility wing, and also for using it platforms to bridge the gap between those “who need help” and “those who are capable of providing help.”
The Diplomatic Call media brand was officially launched by the Egyptian Ambassador to Ghana, H.E Omar Selim, ably supported by the Acting Malaysian High Commissioner to Ghana, H’E Abdullah Maa’mor, the Deputy High Commissioner of India, H.E Aljaneesh Kumar, Mr. Girmay Haile, Country Director of UNAIDS, as well as representatives from the Nigerian High Commission, British High Commission, Canadian High Commission, Ethiopian Embassy, Food and Agricultural Organization, among others.
The Diplomatic Call television series will be airing from May, 2014 on Thursdays and Sundays at 6pm on GTV and ETV respectively.
By Prince Asare, Diplomatic Call.
