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Journalism students trained on safety in conflict in Yemen
The Media Department at Taiz University, in collaboration with the Yemeni Journalists' Syndicate, and with the support of UNESCO and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), organized three occupational safety courses for journalism students, with the goal of supporting a free and safe environment for journalists and media workers in Yemen to foster peace, democracy and development.
Throughout the workshop, students received guidance on how to ensure their safety while performing their jobs, particularly in conflict environments.
The course included important topics related to risk assessment, advance preparations, and digital security for journalists. The knowledge shared was valuable and appropriate for Yemeni journalists living in a dangerous environment.
The week activities culminated in organizing a workshop on March 24th with journalism professors in Taiz University and selected number of students focusing on modalities of integrating the in the university’s journalism education plan.
During the opening ceremony, Dr. Mansour Alkadasi, the Head of the Department of Media at Taiz University, highlighted the significance of acquiring professional safety skills and stressed on the importance of media and journalism students interacting and participating in such courses. Universities and the education system as a whole, bear a huge responsibility in ensuring that, from the start, journalism and media students are well prepared and have the tools to understand the risks they will be facing and the tools to mitigate them and ensure their own protection. This responsibility is even greater in the context of Yemen, in which young journalists should be prepared to work in a conflict sensitive zone with higher physical and psychological threats.
Aboud Alsofi, IFJ’s journalists safety trainer emphasized that the curriculum developed with UNESCO aims to assist academic institutions in fulfilling their responsibilities under the UN plan for the safety of journalists, as well as highlighted the role of institutions in raising awareness among students and encouraging academic research on the risks of journalism work.
