• TRT World keeping promises with “Journalism for Juniors” initiative and enabling future possibilities for refugee children
  • The second round of “Journalism for Juniors” program was held in the Harran Camp on March 2nd-4th 2018, providing more than 60 high school students introductory workshop to mobile journalism and story-telling, designed and run by TRT World staff.

The Syrian War has entered into its seventh year with no end in sight. The conflict has left thousands of children at risk of becoming a lost generation with no access to education.

Turkey hosts the largest number of Syrian refugees with more than 3 million refugees. The Turkish Government is working to provide education to the Syrian refugee children and it has launched numerous campaigns to provide humanitarian aid to those fleeing. Joining these efforts, TRT World has stepped up to help out in welcoming refugee children. TRT World launched its “World Citizen” initiative the first initiative of its kind to be launched by a global media network whose employees are on the ground, working on grassroots humanitarian-based initiatives.

TRT World has institutionalized its commitment to inspiring humanity’s collective conscience with the launch of its  World Citizen campaign. Under the World Citizen umbrella, TRT World introduced a “Journalism For Juniors” programme in October, 2017.

The second round of Journalism for Juniors workshop series took place in the Harran Refugee Camp during 2nd to 4th March 2018 to address the education deficit of Syrian refugee children. The project series hopes to move beyond providing traditional charity for the refugees and instead focuses on providing high school students with the knowledge, skills, and hope for a better future.

With 64 participants (ages 17-18; 36 male and 28 female Syrian teenagers), the three-day introductory workshop to mobile journalism and story-telling, designed and run by TRT World staff, provided young students an opportunity to learn the basics of journalism while empowering them to take control of their own narratives. After lessons in creative story-boarding, digital news-making, responsible social media usage, and verifying news credibility, the students went on to write, film, and edit original stories around the camp. They gained the confidence to tell their own stories and share their voice with the world.

In a special sharing session today, Syrian refugee children got the chance to listen Dr. Jamal Abdullah’s success story, currently a Senior Researcher at TRT World Research Centre, who grew up in Syrian refugee camps as a Palestinian child. Dr. Jamal who survived tough times yet achieved exemplary academic results becoming an academician at Oxford University has acquired 3 masters degrees in international relations, political science and political sociology and mastered 3 languages; English, Arabic and French. Aspiring Syrian refugee participants, Dr. Jamal conducted his training session entitled “A future under construction” to motivate students to dream big and not to lose hope.

Hana, a 12th grade student originally from Aleppo said “I decided to be a journalist when I was 13 the time the revolution started in Syria. Now finally I am given the opportunity to learn more about mobile journalism. With these workshops we had, I am more determined today to achieve my goal to be a journalist one day.”

About TRT World

TRT World, Turkey’s first English broadcasting international news platform is launched in 2015 and headquartered in Istanbul, with four newsrooms and an extensive global bureau network covering major regions and hot spots. Strategically designed to maximise its global reach, it is broadly available in all major English-speaking territories and can be accessed via traditional media, including free-to-air, cable and satellite, and other digital platforms, including mobiles, desktops and social media. A distinctive voice to the global news landscape, this is TRT World.

(Source: TRT World)