Meeting report
A meeting report from the MENA regional meeting organised by GFMD and ARIJ on 30 November 2023.
The meeting, which gathered 80 GFMD members, partners and donors working in the MENA region included:
A discussion of the devastating effects of the Israel-Gaza war on journalists, media, and media support organisations, including a mapping of emergency needs and available crisis resources
A round of the most recent needs assessments from the MENA region
A consultation on Draft Principles for Relevant and Effective Support to Media and the Information Environment that are being developed by the OECD with support from GFMD and CIMA
A discussion on how GFMD’s code of conduct and mechanisms for accountability could be improved
A brief presentation on how to harness lessons learned from media support coordination efforts following the Beirut port blast for the current crisis in Gaza
Quotes and testimonies from the meeting:
Regarding crisis coordination for journalists and media in Gaza:
The problem is that coordination is often all about who is doing what not about what should be done.
UNESCO outlined their efforts on the ground, informing the participants that the Ramallah office has been maintaining regular communication with partners both on the ground and in Gaza. They have established a safety officers network, initiated six years ago, to build a network of journalists with safety capacities in various media outlets.
Those journalists are helping now to support each other, not only financially, also supporting them morally and supporting the news agencies.
On the topic of the ongoing OECD consultation on relevant and effective support to media and the media environment:
"The central question revolves around who decides these needs. Are they determined by the media institutions operating in the country, possessing a deeper understanding of its subjective and objective circumstances, or are they influenced by the agenda of donors? For instance, who determined that the top priority in Palestine should be, with all due respect to its importance, environmental issues? This is like telling someone on the brink of starvation, 'We want to hear your music.'"
A discussion on GFMD's code of conduct similarly addressed the donor-recipient relationship and the feeling of deep dismay of the local media community at the sudden withdrawal of international support and funding:
"When discussing partnerships with international institutions, there are donor organizations, whose names I won't mention, that reached out to us and numerous media institutions within the first week of the war. They conveyed this message, sometimes through voice messages: 'Stop these projects. We cannot proceed; we are afraid to continue these projects, and we want to conduct a review of them.' How can I explain when a donor with whom we've collaborated for two decades, who is well-acquainted with our independence and secular, non-extremist ideology, requests a review of the project? This reflects a double standard from both donors and civil society organizations that have suspended projects."
In response, one international mediadev expert said:
I think one thing we've heard today and...over the course of several meetings here, is that there's been a real betrayal of trust and of the values that have underpinned the relationship between some...not all...all donors.
In terms of solutions:
One of the things that we are...thinking about very seriously in this principles document is making sure that in every region you have the space to build your own agendas and your own strategies independently of the donors...
Main outcomes
GFMD’s regional MENA meeting resulted in a number of significant outcomes:
Funding and emergency resources for journalists in Gaza:
ARIJ and the Samir Kassir Foundation (SKF) attended an online meeting of the Journalists in Distress network to brief international actors on the situation and how organisations in the region are responding to the emergency. The Palestine Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) has also been introduced to the JiD network so that MADA can assist in referring and verifying cases.
ARIJ launched a crowdfunding campaign to provide direct emergency assistance to individual Palestinian journalists. The campaign’s objectives span equipment replacement (cameras, laptops, phones, microphones, power banks), ensuring basic necessities like food, winter clothing, tents, mattresses, and covers, and furnishing journalists’ workspaces with essentials, including solar-powered chargers. The target is to secure 100K USD. The campaign page is accessible here. By the end of December 2023, ARIJ managed to help around 100 Palestinian journalists in the Gaza Strip.
GFMD also introduced Avaaz – the global campaigning organisation – to ARIJ so that ARIJ could brief them on the situation in Palestine and what aid/funds are at disposal. ARIJ is also now positioned to benefit from the crowdfunding campaign that Avaaz has launched.
Mapping funding and crisis resources
The MENA region exhibits a diverse landscape of funding resources and needs for media and media development. Each country, from Bahrain to Yemen, tailors its approach to address specific challenges and priorities. Funding initiatives range from short-term programmatic support, such as awards and training programs, to long-term projects funded by international entities like the European Union. The focus varies, encompassing areas like investigative journalism, gender balance, digital transformation, and peacebuilding through media. Collaborations with local partners and organisations are evident, reflecting a commitment to integrated efforts. Despite variations in funding priorities, the overarching goal across the region is to develop a robust and inclusive media environment that addresses local needs and challenges.
In light of the current crisis, the media development community has created a comprehensive mapping sheet detailing emergency funding and crisis resources for journalists caught in the Israel/Gaza war. This mapping tool, piloted by GFMD in response to the war in Ukraine, can aid journalism support efforts in efficiently directing resources where they are most needed, preventing duplication and wasted resources.
Improved regional communication and verification of social media accounts
GFMD used dedicated email lists – for the MENA region and for Palestine – to facilitate information sharing and joint action, including collating a spreadsheet of social media accounts of trustworthy independent news organisations in Palestine and neighbouring countries.
This list was shared with META’s policy team to be added to their “Cross Check” scheme and with TikTok
The full meeting report can be found here.
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