The 2017 campaign, to last until 23 November on the eighth commemoration of the Maguindanao massacre which claimed 32 journalists’ lives - calls for strengthening the international legal framework and national protection mechanisms to ensure greater media safety. It focuses on 7 countries Afghanistan, Iraq, Mexico, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and Ukraine.
While the UN Day to end impunity for crime against journalists by the United Nations General Assembly in 2013 has helped put the issue of media protection on the international agenda, the IFJ has expressed its concern that there have been no concrete measures to investigate incidents of violence against journalists in many countries around the world.
To this end, the IFJ has made a number of propositions at a consultation meeting on the safety of journalists convened by UNESCO and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on 29 June in Geneva. They include steps to strengthen the international legal framework related to journalist safety to account not only for the professional risks that journalists and media workers take, but also for the unique value of journalism in strengthening the rule of law.
The IFJ has also supported outreach programmes to engage other stakeholders, such as law enforcement agencies, prosecutors and judges on the role of journalists and their own contribution to its promotion for the good of society. It also argued in favour of protection mechanisms which have the confidence of journalists and their organisations to provide safety to those whose lives are at risk on account of their professional activities.
The latter is at the heart of the IFJ's campaign on Mexico , where the Federation is engaging the European Union institutions to leverage their influence as Mexico’s partners in ensuring the national protection mechanism for journalists fulfills its role in one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists.
For more information on the IFJ campaign against impunity visit this website.