PESHAWAR, Pakistan: Journalists, including females, from Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province received two-day training sessions on safety and security to stay safe while reporting for their respective national and international news organizations in the region.
Two-day trainings one each for journalists of FATA and KP were held in Peshawar by Pakistani media development organization Freedom Network in collaboration with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Islamabad Office.
Pakistan has been one of the five pilot countries selected for the implementation of its landmark UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity. Iraq, Mexico, Sudan and Nepal are the other four countries.
The trainings conducted in Peshawar included basic physical preparations for covering different types of stories while anticipating intimidation, harassment or violence during the course of reporting that journalists of these regions face.
The training for journalists was designed to include hands-on exercises ranging from scoping for potential field-based problems as well as being prepared with appropriate pre-emptive and responsive measures to minimize harm.
A total of 20 journalists 10 each from FATA and KP attended the two trainings this month. Among the participants seven were female journalists, including a female student of final year from Kurram tribal district and some students of the Mass Communication Department of the University of Peshawar.
According to research by Freedom Network, at least 113 journalists and media workers have been killed in Pakistan since 2000, including 13 in FATA and 22 in KP.
In her message UNESCO Pakistan Representative, Vibeke Jensen said, the safety of journalists’ issue in Pakistan “is a key concern for UNESCO.
We are working closely with the local media support organizations, the government and other key stakeholders to improve the situation. Among other things, UNESCO is training journalists to have a better understanding of the risks involved and what they can do to adopt measures for better safety.
Noor Behram, a journalist from North Waziristan, said, journalists in tribal areas are facing grave risk to their lives and training like this can help us minimize the risk.
Among the participants included Ms Shafat Saba Bangash, student of final years at the Mass Communication Department of the University of Peshawar, said that she had come from a tribal area where security situation was not good.
I think this training I am attending for the first time is catering to my security concerns, she commented at the end of training.
Journalist Shah Nawaz from Swat believed the training was much needed to stay safe while reporting from former stronghold of Taliban in Malakand region.
The kidnapping survival session interested me much as I always risk of being kidnapped by militants, he said while receiving training certificate at the end of the training.
Two senior journalists Azizullah Marwat and Syed Bukhar Shah attended the two trainings as resource persons sharing their experience of how they reported conflict while also making it sure they stayed safe. The participants evinced keen interest in two senior journalists personal experiences and useful tips to ensure personal safety was not compromised.
Source: APP
