Call for Applications for Training in Podcasting - Training

Reporters, editors and producers from six Western Balkans countries are invited to apply for a training in investigative podcasts led by prominent international trainers who produce podcasts for the Reveal and Bellingcat investigative journalism websites. Deadline 14 March 2021

Shelter City - Support Centres

Shelter City is a nationwide initiative of Justice and Peace Netherlands to protect human rights defenders, in cooperation with a growing number of Dutch cities and local organizations.

Human rights defenders defend the rights of themselves and of others. Through their work they play an important role in the promotion of democratic values, political freedoms, and civil rights. This is a challenging and dangerous fight: they are often silenced, threatened, arrested, tortured and sometimes they disappear.

Justice and Peace established Shelter City in 2012 on the request of their network of international human rights defenders. After the first Shelter City in The Hague, Middelburg joined in 2014, followed by Nijmegen, Maastricht, Utrecht, and Amsterdam in 2015, Tilburg and Groningen in 2016 and Zwolle and Haarlem in 2017. In 2018 Deventer also joined the Shelter City network. Rotterdam followed in 2020. Tbilisi & Batumi (Georgia), Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania), Cotonou (Benin) and San José (Costa Rica) have joined the network as International Shelter City Hubs. The expectation is that other cities (in or outside the Netherlands) will join in the future as well. The growing number of applications from Human Rights Defenders under threat shows that new Shelter Cities are strongly needed.

In every Shelter City the municipality, local organizations, universities, and Justice and Peace provide the shelter and take care of the program for the human rights defender. Together with the human rights defenders they organize meetings and workshops that contribute to the raising of awareness about human rights issues among the inhabitants of the Shelter Cities.

Shelter City is affiliated with the EU Human Rights Defenders Relocation Platform

Mapping Fake News and Disinformation in the Western Balkans and Identifying Ways to Effectively Counter Them - Reports

A study requested by the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs, concluding that the European Union should focus on the role that it can play in bolstering the quality of democracy and governance in the Western Balkans, as the most powerful potential bulwark against disinformation

Greek police urged to explain detention of German documentary crew - Article

The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) sent a letter to Greek authorities seeking an urgent explanation for the recent detention of a German documentary on the island of Samos

PANDEMIC FOR DIGITAL RIGHTS. Central and Southeast Europe - Reports

The digital rights monitoring that SHARE Foundation has been running since 2014 expanded and included the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) to keep track of incidents in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Hungary, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Romania. This monitoring report covers the period from 31 January to 30 September 2020

Impunity for crimes against journalists remains high, by IPI - Article

The International Press Institute is celebrating the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes agaisnt Journalists: the analysis confirms that governments are failing to bring perpetrators to justice

PPF Group and media ownership: an exchange between MFRR and the company - Article

The prompt answer of international investment group PPF to the letter of concern signed by international press freedom organizations is quite generic and leaves many issues open, but it is a first step forward

Combatting Online Harassment and Smear Campaigns - HTML5 video

A panel organised by IPI for its 2020 World congress online

Combatting Online Harassment and Smear Campaigns - Training

At a panel organised by the International Press Institute, experts from different backgrounds discussed what strategies news organisations could implement to protect journalists in all parts of the industry

Three years after her assassination, still no justice for Daphne Caruana Galizia - Article

In Malta, the risk of impunity is high and a wide range of international human rights group show concerns and call for justice