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WHAT WE DO

Name:   FEDERATION OF SOMALI JOURNALISTS (FESOJ)

Location: Main Headquarter, Mogadishu-Somalia

About the Organization

The Federation of Somali Journalists (FESOJ)  is a national union of professional journalists in Somalia whose main office is in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.

The Federation of Somali Journalists (FESOJ) systematically monitors and conducts investigations into violations of press freedom and human rights of journalists and provides accurate, prompt and impartial information concerning attacks on journalists such as killings, arrests, death threats and harassments, as well as acts of aggression against media organizations

FESOJ Aims and Objectives

  1.  To promote, safeguard and defend the professional interests, welfare and status of working journalists;
  2.  To promote and maintain the highest standards of professional conduct and integrity and to strive for and defend the freedom and independence of the media;
  3. To provide financial assistance to journalists in need and to give pension, unemployment, sickness and death benefits or other kinds of benefits to members of the Federation of Somali Journalists (FESOJ)  and its affiliates in the states.
  4. To raise financial assistance to the Federation of Somali Journalists (FESOJ) and its affiliate units so that they can strengthen the trade union movement among media workers, including working journalists;
  5. To arrange for training of journalists to improve their professional skills and to establish and maintain institutes of journalism and to give financial support to institutes of journalism.
  6. To institute fellowships to help journalists conduct research and publish books on media related subjects;
  7. To strive for the betterment of working conditions of journalists, especially with regard to salary, remuneration, conditions of service, tenure of office, allowances and facilities for the due discharge of their responsibilities without fear or favour;
  8. To help safeguard and promote interests of journalists generally, and to help them  secure employment;
  9. To work for and promote legislation for the economic and professional welfare of journalists and for the proper development of the media free from outside control;
  10. To establish and maintain libraries for the use of media persons and to promote amenities for recreation and cultural activities;

FOCUS AREAS  

No. Actions Objectives
Labour Rights Campaign

 

 ü  Encourage all members to register in the union branches and chapels.

ü  Strengthen the capacity of the union and its branches for better trainings to improve their skills in relation to the Trade union rights and Decent Work development.

ü  Educate and empower the journalists’ labour rights through trainings and advocacy.

ü  Advocate and protect the rights of journalists in the media outlets.

ü  Lobby for Independent Workers Law that safeguards the Rights of the Somali Workers.

ü  Negotiate with Media Outlets on collective agreements.

ü  Issue a National Press Card for the Journalists.
Develop the Professional knowledge of the Journalists ü  Develop training curriculum of basics of journalism and safety skills in Somali and English languages.

ü  Build the skills of journalists about the basics of journalism.

ü  Raise the awareness of journalists to work ethically.
Enhancing Press Freedom ü  Encourage Press Freedom Protectors to report objectively and promptly the press freedom violations.

ü  Support the work of central office in Mogadishu which is monitoring, documenting and disseminating the alerts and reports of press freedom.

ü  Provide training related to the Freedom of Expression and the Freedom of the press to the Journalists, Media managers, government bodies whose work related to the media, judiciary and Security sector of the government.

ü  Create friendly environment between the journalists and the Security Sector of the government that promotes press freedom.

 
Empowering women in the participation of Union leadership ü  Encourage women journalists and graduates in the profession.

ü  Build the capacity of women journalists in the leadership skills.

ü  Encourage wider woman participation of union activities through the Union’s Gender council.
Strengthening Union Branches ü  Support union branches to carry out their business in transparent manner.

ü  Empower the Gender council of the Union and develop especial gender related trainings to boost the women participation in leadership roles in the media.

ü  Ensure Women participation in the union leadership.

ü  Support union branches in the submission of the quarterly reports over the union activities in each region.

ü  Encourage branches to make membership drive.

ü  Organize chapels in the existing media stations in an attempt to increase the membership

ü  Facilitate meetings for branches.
Programs for State building and Federalism, Peace, Security, reconciliation, and Election Reporting
  • Develop strategy and means of media coverage of peace building and reconciliation throughout the country.
  • Provide Training related to the Federalism and State building process in order for the journalists to have a better understanding on the Federalism and State building process.
  • Develop Training on Peace reporting.
  • Develop Trainings related to Federalism and State Building process so as to empower the journalists across the country.
  • Increase combating impunity and Lobby for locally and internationally in ending the crimes against the journalists.
  • Put pressure on the government to end impunity.
  • Educate the media professionals safety skills to protect themselves to enable to work in an unsafe environment.
  • Develop Safety Guidelines for the journalists in the Somalia context.
  • Finally, provide Trainings related to the election reporting once the country is prepared to go into the General Elections in 2020-201.
Media Law Development
  • Review Somali media bill in line with the International norms and standards and with the full participation of the Somali media stakeholders.
  • Campaign for better media legislation and fight against criminalization of the journalists’ work.
  • Ensure that the Media legislations guarantee the freedom of expression and the media freedoms .
Safety and Ethics
  • Provide training related to the Safety, Security and Ethics to the Media professionals to improve the qualify of the journalism to safely report in conflict sensitive issues that endanger the lives of the professionals.
  • Promote Professional Conduct through ethics to improve the professional conduct of the journalists.
  • Create a Safety Fund for the Journalists as means of life-saving to the Somali Journalists in distress.
Human Rights
  • Develop trainings based on Human Rights Reporting for the journalists.
  • Build the capacity of the Journalists in the human rights field in an ethically accepted manner, especially the Violence against women, children to mention a few.
  • Develop guidelines for the Human Rights.

 
Media Awards
  • Establish a Media Awards program for Somali Journalists; a contest for quality and excellence in Journalism.
  • Seek and invite interested local and international partners in improving the quality of the program.

The Federation of Somali Journalists (FESOJ) is the main representative organisation of journalists in Somalia. It has its affiliates with many international journalist organizations and member of Somalia Non-State Actors (SONSA).

FESOJ has partnership with EU Delegation in Somalia, UN Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) US and other EU diplomatic missions in Somalia, Free Press Unlimited, Finish Foundation for Media Development (VIKES) Doha Center for Media Development,UNESCO,UNDP.

 

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Code of Conduct of Somali Journalists

Code of Ethics of Somali Journalists  

NUSOJ officially changes its name to FESOJ

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