The IFJ, the world's largest organisation of journalists, represents 600,000 media professionals from 187 trade unions and associations in more than 140 countries.

Established in 1926, the IFJ is the organisation that speaks for journalists within the United Nations system and within the international trade union movement.

First established as the Fédération Internationale des Journalistes (FIJ) in 1926 in Paris, it was relaunched as the International Organization of Journalists (IOJ) in 1946, but lost its Western members to the Cold War and re-emerged in its present form in 1952 in Brussels.

The IFJ:

• Organises collective action to support journalists’ unions in their fight for fair pay, decent working conditions and in defence of their labour rights.
• Promotes international action to defend press freedom and social justice through strong, free and independent trade unions of journalists.
• Fights for gender equality in all its structures, policies and programmes.
• Opposes discrimination of all kinds and condemns the use of media as propaganda or to promote intolerance and conflict. 
• Believes in freedom of political and cultural expression.

Our Federation does not subscribe to any given political viewpoint, but promotes collective action to defend human rights, democracy and media pluralism.

The IFJ supports journalists and their unions whenever they are fighting for their industrial and professional rights and has established an International Safety Fund to provide humanitarian aid for journalists in need. 

IFJ policy is decided democratically at a Congress which meets every three years and work is carried out by the Secretariat under the direction of an elected Executive Committee.