Journalist syndicates and associations in the Arab region and Iran strengthen their capacity through cooperation with international and national journalist unions and IMS

When the government of Yemen proclaimed it would reform the old media law of Yemen, it also committed itself not to pass any new legislation regarding the media sector without consulting the Yemen Syndicate of Journalists. Two years later, a new media law is still pending, but the government has just reaffirmed its pledge to involve the Yemen Syndicate of Journalists before approving any new legislation.

In Yemeni terms, this recognition by the government of the syndicate marks a significant victory for the media sector in Yemen in general and for the Yemen Syndicate of Journalists in particular as it demonstrates the potential prospects of uniting the media sector in a common quest for press freedom. At the same time, however, the Yemen Syndicate of Journalists strives to improve the ability to fulfil its mission relating to press freedom but also as a union that works to improving working conditions for its members – the Yemeni journalists.

Building an organisational set up, which may accommodate the needs of the members is a cumbersome process, which takes time, financial muscle and long-term commitment.

In 20065, the International Federation of Journalists and the Danish Union of Journalists, IMS embarked on a cooperation with four journalist associations and syndicates in the Arab region and Iran to strengthen their position as watchdogs over press freedom as well as advocates for better working conditions of journalists. Besides the Yemen Syndicate of Journalists, the cooperating partners include the Journalists Association of Bahrain, the Association of Journalists in Iran and the Journalists Syndicate of Algeria.

In the project, the International Federation of Journalists and the Danish Union have pioneered a unique cooperation whereby expertise in international collaboration as well as local organisational skills combined provide a broad spectre of knowledge which is shared with the four partner syndicates and associations in their effort to build the organisational capacity.

The Danish Union of Journalists have appointed four Danish journalist with long-term experience as shop stewards in Danish media institutions, each of whom have ‘adopted’ a partner association working directly with the partner organisations. In collaboration with IFJ and the partner association they have organized workshops on a variety of subjects such as collective bargaining, setting up work contracts for journalists as well as training in organisational setups and shared all their knowledge and experience with their partner organisation. Also, regional IFJ meetings have paved the way for a network consisting of international coordinators of all four Arab/Iranian partner organisations to allow for a cross-regional exchange of experiences and knowledge sharing.

The project is funded through IMS by public Danish funds.