Eighty Zimbabwean journalists have been given free safety training by INSI in four courses beginning in Zimbabwe and ending in neighbouring Zambia between March and April 2009.
Journalists work under constant threat in Zimbabwe under the repressive government of President Robert Mugabe. Last year several were arrested, detained or beaten up, and a photographer was found murdered.
“We are delighted to have been able to provide real, practical help to colleagues working in such a dangerous environment. They need to know how to protect themselves,” said INSI Director Rodney Pinder.
Journalists came from all the different regions in Zimbabwe and 60 travelled all the way to neighbouring Zambia to participate in the safety training, which included subjects like risk assessment, home and office security and improvised first aid.
Each group also participated in conflict-sensitive journalism workshops which were organised jointly with the safety training in order to provide both the practical and professional skills best suited to the situation in Zimbabwe.
“I gained a lot”, said one journalist, “especially coming from a background of being arrested eight times.”
The safety training was supported by International Media Support (IMS) with the collaboration of the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) and the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA). It was provided by INSI and a specialist from AKE Group Ltd and the conflict sensitive journalism workshops were taught by Media and Democracy Group and International Media Support.
INSI, a non-governmental organisation supported by news organisations,journalist support groups and humanitarian concerns worldwide, has now provided safety training at no cost to 1223 journalists and other news media staff in 20 countries.