Humanitarian Aid & Journalism (AHJ)

Our association Humanitarian Aid and Journalism (AHJ) works in favour of all victims of war or discrimination, especially women in conflict zones, but also refugees in France and Europe, by enabling them to train in journalism and art to assert their rights and make their voices heard. 

 

Since its creation in 2017, AHJ has accompanied more than 200 women activists, journalists and journalism students or simply those who want to express themselves freely. Building on its experience of photojournalism with Yezidi women and other projects in France, in 2020 AHJ launched Makanati ("my place" in Arabic), the project of CFI, the French Agency for Media Development, with the support of the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, a programme encouraging greater participation of Iraqi and Yemeni women in the media landscape of their countries.

 

Women’s Voices Without Borders (WVWB)

AHJ wishes to broaden the scope of its actions by launching a new project: Women’s Voices Without Borders (WVWB). The objective is to create an international network of women activists and journalists in exile in France and Europe, and women journalists in Africa and the Middle East, to strengthen their professional capacities, but also to allow them to express themselves freely, share their views and help each other.

 

Objectives of WVWB

• Create an operational unit in Paris to launch and coordinate an international network of women journalists and activists "without borders" so that they can express themselves freely in a secure virtual environment.

• Create an "Academy for Women Journalists and Activists in Conflict Zones" which will offer virtual or on-site training to women journalists and activists living in the Middle East and Africa or forced into exile in France and Europe in order to strengthen their professional capacities in monitoring and reporting on the situation of women in these countries.

• Conducting advocacy actions with different actors to raise awareness of human rights, women's rights, gender equality and freedom of expression among the media and local populations.

 

Actions of WVWB

• An operational unit based in Paris will host the first "Academy for women journalists and activists from conflict zones".  It will be equipped with the technical means to pilot and train on site and at a distance, thanks to a team of experts and trainers with the necessary experience and skills and gifted with several languages.

• The operational unit will organise open calls for applications through transparent eligibility, evaluation and selection procedures. A Committee of international experts and AHJ trainers as well as French and European institutional representatives as observers will select the candidates. The Committee of Experts and the Operational Unit in Paris will also be responsible for mentoring future women journalists and/or activists from each target country.

• The Committee will also be responsible for the development of media monitoring and content production in the 10 target countries, as well as awareness raising and advocacy actions, in conjunction with the Country Correspondents and Local Reporters.

Impacts of WVWB

• The professional integration of women journalists who are refugees in France and Europe or who are silenced in their own country, by offering them the tools and resources they need to practice their profession, to become part of a professional network, mutually supportive network, to develop their skills and to express themselves freely in a safe environment via the creation of a digital platform registered in France.

• The empowerment of women and their autonomy so they may find their place in society, whether they are exiled in France or in Europe or involved in their country of origin. 

• Training 120 women forced into exile in France and Europe and 400 women journalists in ten countries through the creation of the first "Academy for Women Journalists and Activists from Conflict Zones", based in Paris and duly equipped to help them: strengthen their professional skills, improve and expand their theoretical and practical knowledge, and obtain a diploma. 

• Connecting, developing mutual support and the opportunity to express themselves freely in a secure environment, thanks to the international network of women journalists and activists "without borders" and the creation of a digital platform registered in France.

• To make the voices of women without borders audible, to broadcast country reports on the situation of women produced directly by the beneficiaries, to publish their media productions without any censoring and to raise awareness of human rights through the creation of a dedicated digital platform in several languages. 

• To give visibility to these women, to the project and to its partners through key events: Annual Forum and VFSF International Festival in Paris.