The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) in collaboration with American Centre for International Labour Solidarity (Solidarity Centre) held a Strategic Planning and Leadership Workshop for members of NUSOJ Supreme Council from 25 through 28 January 2008 in Djibouti.
The workshop was held at a crucial time for NUSOJ leaders and members who witnessed the highest rate of journalist deaths in Africa and the second highest rate in the world after Iraq in 2007.
NUSOJ leaders held intensive sessions during the four-day workshop which addressed challenges to professional safety, press freedom, rights and working conditions of journalists in Somalia as well as obstacles to freedom of association and weaknesses in the recently passed National Media Law.
The NUSOJ leaders laid down the union’s vision, objectives and priorities for the coming two years. The leaders also outlined the implementation of NUSOJ Strategic Plan, which details the action program, including specific activities.
NUSOJ Secretary General Omar Faruk Osman said “We are operating under extraordinary circumstances but we must remain steadfast in defense of our right to independently exercise our profession and in particular our right to organize and represent journalists”.
“We are at a historic crossroads, either we can abandon our struggle for the rights of Somali journalists in the face of extreme adversity or we can forge ahead as a bold journalists’ trade union determined to overcome the obstacles we as media professionals face” Omar Faruk added. “We must overcome those obstacles not just for the interest of our members but also for the interest of our nation since journalists play a vital role in restoration of peace and the development and strengthening of a functioning democracy where rule of law is respected.”
The workshop was also attended by Hanad Mohamud, Director of Trade Union Strengthening for the American Centre for International Labour Solidarity who facilitated two vital sessions for NUSOJ leadership. Hanad said “Journalists are workers like all other workers, in conflict environments, they face particular challenges. We are here in Solidarity with the brave brothers and sisters in NUSOJ who practice their journalistic profession despite all the dangers they face in Somalia”.
“The right to protect freedom of the press and to organize and bargain collectively as well as the right to work free of danger is essential for a free society”
Hanad went on to say “it is no small matter that the leadership of NUSOJ represents member journalists that are regularly attacked in the course of discharging of their duties. This requires a concerted effort on the part of the Global Trade Union Movement to ensure that journalists in Somalia operate in a safe working environment where their right to organize and bargain collectively is respected. Trade union rights are human rights and protection of those rights for journalists in particular is a critical component of democratic governance.”
Hanad paid special tribute to women journalists operating in Somalia saying to women members in the Supreme Council “Your challenges are twofold, yet you continue despite all that you face, it is both an inspiration to women journalists around the world and a testament to your courage and conviction. Your presence in the leadership of your union and the efforts of our sister Journalists throughout Somalia is fundamental to the success of your union”.
The NUSOJ Supreme Council, which consists of the Heads of the Regional Branches and Members of the Executive Committee, concluded the workshop by developing a two-year strategic plan aimed at the challenges faced by the union. Among the resolutions of the workshop were to promote cooperation through the framework of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) among journalist unions operating in conflict environments in order to share best practices.
Participants of the workshop visited journalists who had fled from Somalia at a special meeting prior to the workshop and heard the hardships they faced at their Safe House in Djibouti. These journalists had faced torture, beatings, arbitrary arrests and other violations of their rights. Hanad who gave a stirring speech at this gathering of journalists said “it is unconscionable in 2008 that media workers are arrested, injured and killed just because they seek to practice their profession and exercise their right. You are the front line of human rights and democracy in your country and for that I salute you all” he said.
The National Union of Somali Journalists regularly reviews and updates its Strategic Plan, the purpose of which is to enhance the NUSOJ’s role as the nation’s only representative journalists’ Trade Union.
