Practical exercises on how to give first aid for Afghan media practitioners in Kabul, June 2008. Photo: IMS

IMS conducts safety training for Afghan journalists on how to protect themselves in dangerous situations in order to enable them to continue producing news from one of the most dangerous places in the world

A man is lying flat on his back on the ground. He is surrounded by a couple of men who offer first aid. The incident is attracting a small crowd of men and women, who giggle while closely monitoring whether the first aid will help the man on the ground.

The moment is captured during an exercise carried out in a recent workshop in the Afghan capitol of Kabul. Here, 15 journalists from the Helmand province in the southern part of the country went through three days of safety training for journalists and media workers organised by IMS in close collaboration with the security company, Ake.

The most dangerous place for media workers

The background for the training is, however, far less amusing. Afghanistan is one of the most dangerous countries in the world - both on an individual level as well as in terms of direct attacks against media institutions. On top of that, the Helmand province is one of the worst conflict affected areas in the country at present.

According to the Afghanistan Independent Journalists' Association (AIJA), 45 assaults on media workers were reported in 2006 - in 2007 the number of incidents rose to at least 50 reported cases, not counting unreported cases.

Training in safer surroundings

The training participants were flown out of the Helmand province to Kabul for the training seminar for fear of attacks or other forms of harassment against the participants and the trainers.

- Furthermore, the days in Kabul offered a short but hard-earned peace and quiet for the journalists who work under very stressful circumstances, says Susanna Inkinen, IMS consultant and organizer of the safety workshop.

The backbone of the training included training in basic skills concerning first aid, planning to pre-empt and prevent landing in dangerous situations, searching mine fields, checking cars for bombs as well as practical exercises in precautionary safety procedures.

- We offer tools that may help reduce the risks for these journalists to enable them continue their work even under dangerous circumstances, explains Susanna Inkinen.

By offering training in safety procedures, IMS is supporting the professionalism of these journalists. In cooperation with its partners, IMS offers hands-on tools tailored for media professionals thereby supporting a healthy safety culture.

- In addition to that, we support media workers mentally, as we take the very real dangers, they live with on a daily basis, seriously by offering training to help them protect themselves, says Susanna Inkinen.

Apart from these topics, the Afghan participants were eager to seek advice on how to tackle situations like kidnappings or imprisonment that pose a real danger to Afghan journalists.

IMS is planning a new workshop on safety training for media workers in Afghanistan in October 2008.