These IFJ trainings, led by the IFJ and the Arab World and the Middle East network of safety trainers, addressed the risks that journalists face in their daily work, including safety of women journalists, safety of investigative journalists and ballistic threats, protection of digital data and the prevention of hacking.
The IFJ continues to support journalists in the Arab World and the Middle East region in order to develop a safety culture of journalists in the workplace.
Forty journalists attended the training in Iraq, while 32 journalists attended two training programmes organised in Irbid and Ammann in collaboration with the Jordanian Press Association. The Syrian Journalists' Union gathered 19 journalists who took part in the training programme held in Damascus.
In Iraq, the Iraqi Union of Journalists said that many training activities and safety courses were postponed because of the Covid-19 crisis over the past two years. The Union added that this training is the first activity in a series of workshops for Iraqi journalists to be organised in the coming weeks.
On the other hand, the Jordanian Press Association expressed its will to collaborate with the IFJ in launching an intensive training programme in which Jordanian women journalists will have a great participation.
The Syrian Journalists Union said: ‘This is a great opportunity for participants to improve their skills to protect themselves from different threats (digital or physical) and to notice the need to develop a previous assessment on the risks they may face on the ground while they are doing their job.’
Separately, the IFJ, in collaboration with the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, organised a training workshop named Media Responsibilities in the Professional Safety of Journalists in Gaza on February 21, 2022. Participants discussed safety procedures during field reporting, especially in times of war, conflict, and epidemics. The course also talked about the role of media institutions in protecting journalists and the necessity of providing social coverage during their missions.
From February 23 to February 25, 2022, the Kurdistan Journalists Syndicate organised training for trainers on safety issues, including risk analysis, such as riots and demonstrations, travel safety for women journalists, personal safety, and car accidents.
This training is a part of the IFJ’s safety programme for journalists and helps tackle the challenges that journalists face on the ground.