Campaign for the Safety of Journalists: National chapters Newsroom

Voltar Council of Europe Campaign for the Safety of Journalists: Ukraine launches the National Chapter

On 9 April 2024, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, in co-operation with the Freedom of Expression Committee of the Parliament of Ukraine and the Council of Europe, launched the National Chapter of the Council of Europe "Journalists Matter" Campaign for the Safety of Journalists.

Following the official start of the Council of Europe Campaign in October 2024 in Riga, Ukraine became one of the first European countries that started the roll-out of the Campaign at the national level. The Campaign envisages the appointment of the country focal points, as well as establishing the National Committees and the National Action Plan for the Safety of Journalists to support the national efforts.

The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy, which has been appointed as the Campaign’s focal point, held the National Launch to discuss main issues related to the safety of journalists and media actors in Ukraine and inform the media community about the establishment of the Co-ordination Committee for the Campaign’s Implementation in Ukraine, which will include a broad range of representatives of the state institutions, the media community, academia, and civil society. The specific focus of the discussion was on the ongoing war in Ukraine, the deliberate attacks of the Russian Federation on journalists and media infrastructure, threats related to the work of media on the occupied territories, the situation of journalists, who are Russia’s civic hostages, and recent safety incidents in the state-controlled territories. The event was broadly attended but over 80 national and international participants joined in-person and online. It also included interventions of media and journalists from the occupied territories and those who work at the frontline, investigative journalists, human rights lawyers, and activists, who could share their experience and their views on the needs of the community.

Matjaz Gruden, Council of Europe’s Director for Democracy, reiterated full support for Ukraine and thanked the Ukrainian journalists risking their lives to tell the truth about the war on Ukraine.

Outcomes of the discussion will form the work plan for the Co-ordination Committee for the next months and will follow up with thematic discussions and targeted actions to support the enhancement of the safety of journalists in Ukraine and in the region.

The organisation of the event was supported by the Council of Europe Project “Safeguarding Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Media in Ukraine”, which is implemented by the Division for Co-operation on Freedom of Expression within the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine “Resilience, recovery and reconstruction” 2023-2026.

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