CAIRO – The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has launched a ‘Safety Media Network in the Middle East and the Arab World', that allows media safety trainers and experts to continue working together to provide safety training for journalists. It also raises awareness in the media community and in society about the risks facing journalists, as well as supporting journalists' unions in their campaigns against impunity for the killers of journalists. The IFJ has welcomed the successful safety training course, organised for Egyptian journalists. The first part of the course was held from 9 to 11 July in the Press Syndicate in Cairo, while the second half is being held from 14 to 16 July in Alexandria's Press Syndicate. Mr David Bevan, a British safety trainer, Monir Zaarour, the IFJ's co-ordinator for the Middle East and Arab world, and Abeer Saadi, the head of the Press Syndicate's training department, are all participating in the safety course. “IFJ now has safety experts who can provide their colleagues in the region with knowledge that could save lives. Media companies and other relevant organisations should co-operate with the IFJ and journalists' unions to make safety training available for all journalists working in the region,” said Bevan during the course. "Safety training is vital for journalists working in hostile environments and nowhere else are conditions as challenging for journalists as in Egypt nowadays,” said Abeer. During the six-day course in Cairo and Alexandria, journalists are receiving training in safety and traumatic stress management techniques. Abeer added that the knowledge and skills acquired from this training will help journalists in Egypt to better assess the risks to their safety and security, which they continue to face on a daily basis. “I also participated in the media safety Training of Trainers [ToT] course for the Middle East, held from 11 May to 9 June in Rabat, hosted by the Syndicat National de la Presse Marocaine [SNPM], the IFJ affiliate in Morocco,” she added. “ToT is designed to develop and enhance the training skills of journalists and other news media professionals, so that they can qualify as safety trainers and provide immediate support and assistance for fellow journalists, news organisations and other media workers in their respective countries and in the region,” stressed Monir Zaarour. "Journalists in the Middle East work in increasingly dangerous environments; huge number of journalists and media workers have been killed in the region since the revolutions in Arab countries flared and the authorities have the duty to ensure journalists' safety and bring their killers to justice. “Meanwhile, journalists are in desperate need of safety training; the IFJ and its affiliates in the Middle East and the Arab world are responding to this demand, and taking an important leap towards creating a safer environment for journalists in the region," said David Bevan, an IFJ safety trainer. “If this course had been run in Egypt before January 28, fewer people would have died.” The course is an intensive one, with participants spending time in the classroom and the field, with practical demonstrations and hands-on learning. The training covers various topics including first aid and medical training, hostile environments, media planning and awareness of riots and public disorders, and women journalists' safety. "This training is an important milestone in the IFJ's safety work in the Middle East and the Arab world, particularly in Egypt," Abeer stressed. “We, all Egyptians, not just journalists, should do this course,” Fathi el-Marakbi, an editor with Al-Gomhoria newspaper, said. “This course is teaching me how to save people in dangerous situations.”
