Unions gather in Ethiopia to discuss safety of journalists working in Africa

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Measures to improve the safety of journalists working in African countries will be discussed next week at a workshop involving more than 35 unions, including the NUJ.

The 'Safety and Protection of African Journalists' workshop, which will take place from 2 to 3 September at the African Union Commission headquarters in Ethiopia, is the product of a collaboration between the Federation of African Journalists (FAJ) and the African Union Commission, following the designation of 2010 as the Year of Peace and Security on the continent.

The two-day event will also be attended by politicians, African union officials, international and regional lawyers and safety experts.

NUJ deputy general secretary Michelle Stanistreet, who is running a workshop with backing from the NUJ and TUC, told Journalism.co.uk the union was keen to show its support to journalists who face frequent dangers when trying to tell a story.

"Working as a journalist in Africa poses many challenges –from investigating corruption, holding governments to account or reporting in conflict zones," she said in a statement. "Doing a professional and responsible job can sometimes literally mean putting your life on the line – thirteen journalists were killed last year and many scores more were victimised and threatened.

"The NUJ's involvement in the Safety and Protection of African Journalists conference is one of the ways we are able to support those journalists who remain committed to telling the story of Africa to Africans and to the rest of the world."

The workshop will discuss the risks currently facing journalists, drawing on real-life examples from countries including Somalia, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In background material released in a press invite from the Federation of Journalists and African Union Commission, war reporting is described as "a deadly pursuit".

"The mushrooming of news media organisations meant increasing numbers of young people joining the profession without the necessary training on security awareness," says FAJ president Omar Osman in the report. "At the same time, the technological advances allowed media houses to greatly increase the number of journalists covering conflicts while intensifying the competitive pressures that can force them to take unjustifiable risks.

"Camera crews and photographers take the biggest risks in conflict areas as they need to be up close to the action. Reporters are often at the sharp end in the battlefields because they want to get information from areas where others fear to tread. Some journalists started to believe that if there is no war, there is no news to report."

He adds that the working conditions of journalists are "inadequate" in most cases.

A draft resolution will be drawn up after the workshop setting out extensive policies that "will impel member states, their legislative institutions and law enforcement agencies" to tackle safety issues for journalists.

The resolution will also be presented to the Conference of African Union Ministers of Communication and Information and later submitted to the African Union Summit.