Safety Training For Local Afghanistan Journalists

INSI Provides Safety Training For Local Journalists

Coping with kidnapping. Passage through checkpoints. Hostile crowd situations. These are just some of the aspects the International News Safety Institute (INSI) covered this month in its first-ever safety training to Afghan journalists working in dangerous conditions.

A total of 46 media staffers and freelancers from across the country - eight of whom were women - took part in a two-day workshop in the first week of November in Kabul. The workshop addressed a variety of security issues specific to the country, from planning a story to ballistic awareness. Participants were also taught basic first aid skills and given their own first aid kits.

Afghanistan is one of the world's most dangerous places for journalists. According to INSI, 21 journalists and media workers have been killed in Afghanistan since 1996, four of them this year.

The project was supported by the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Finnish Foundation for Media, Communication and Development, the European Broadcasting Union, "The Guardian", the BBC and Associated Press Television.

INSI has provided safety training free of charge to 731 journalists and support staff in 16 countries.

ENDS

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