ECPMF, European Centre for Press and Media Freedom - Stakeholders

The European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) is a non-profit organisation that was founded in Leipzig, Germany, 2015.

It operates on the basis of  the European Charter on Freedom of the Press and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

ECPMF’s mission is to promote, preserve and defend media freedom, by monitoring violations, providing practical support and engaging diverse stakeholders across Europe.

ECPMF is the project coordinator of the MFRR, Media Freedom Rapid Response.

Vita Activa - Stakeholders

Vita Activa works as a helpline and a solutions laboratory for women journalists, activists and women’s rights defenders who are facing online violence and want to change the ways they face and combat perpetrators and attacks. Responders trained in psychological first aid, conflict resolution and strategic thinking work with women journalists who have faced harassment to build solutions tailored to their cases.

Vita Activa also provides practical support for women and LGBTIQ+ journalists, activists and gender, land and labor rights, and freedom of expression defenders.

International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) - Stakeholders

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is the world's largest organisation of journalists. First established as the Fédération Internationale des Journalistes (FIJ) in 1926 in Paris, it was relaunched as the International Organization of Journalists (IOJ) in 1946 but lost its Western members to the Cold War and re-emerged in its present form in 1952 in Brussels. Today the Federation represents around 600,000 members in 140 countries.

IFJ promotes international action to defend press freedom and social justice through strong, free and independent trade unions of journalists. Its Safety Programme includes casework, protests, campaigns, information and production of various publications. The Safety Fund, established in 1992, is an integral part of this programme that provides immediate financial relief to journalists in financial straits as a result of work-related reasons, such as:

• Forced exile due to threats at home
• Litigation
• Medical Expenses
• Travel costs

The request for assistance has to be submitted either to the IFJ regional offices in the applicant’s region or directly to the IFJ Human Rights and Communications Officer in Brussels.

Italian Coalition for Civil Liberties and Rights (CILD) - Stakeholders

Founded in 2014, the Italian Coalition for Civil Liberties and Rights (Coalizione Italiana Libertà e Diritti Civili, CILD) is a network of civil society organizations that protect and expand the rights and liberties of all, through a combination of advocacy, public education and legal action (further details on practical support here).

Their work focuses on racism and xenophobia, migrations, Italian penal and penitentiary systems, privacy and surveillance, transparency and access to public information.  

PEN International - Stakeholders

PEN International is the worlds leading association of writers, working to promote literature and defend freedom of expression around the world. Founded in 1921, today it connects an international community of writers from its Secretariat in London, spanning over 100 countries, with 149 PEN Centres worldwide. PEN's campaigns, events and programmes connect writers and readers, strengthen freedom of expression, defend linguistic rights and promote quality education at the national, regional and international level across the globe. PEN International is a non-political organisation which holds Special Consultative Status at the UN and Associate Status at UNESCO.

Mass Media Defence Centre - Stakeholders

The Mass Media Defence Centre is an NGO working in the field of media rights protection and the promotion of freedom of expression standards in Russia. Its primary purpose is to protect the rights of media outlets and provides practical support for journalists.

The MMDC is part of the Media Legal Defence Initiative network. The MMDC Director Galina Arapova is a member of the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF). 

Index on Censorship - Stakeholders

Index on Censorship is an international organisation that promotes and defends the right to freedom of expression. Founded in 1972 to publish the untold stories of dissidents behind the Iron Curtain, today Index uses a combination of journalism, campaigning and advocacy to defend freedom of expression for those facing censorship and repression, including journalists, writers, social media users, bloggers, artists, politicians, scientists, academics, activists and citizens.

Index runs several projects on media freedom and provides practical support for journalists and media practitioners under threat.

Front Line Defenders - Stakeholders

Front Line Defenders was founded in Dublin in 2001 with the specific aim of protecting human rights defenders at risk, people who work, non-violently, for any or all of the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Front Line Defenders addresses the protection needs identified by defenders themselves and provides them with practical support.  

United Nations Commission on Human Rights - Stakeholders

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is the principal human rights official of the United Nations and represents the world's commitment to universal ideals of human dignity. OHCHR’s thematic priorities are strengthening international human rights mechanisms; enhancing equality and countering discrimination; combating impunity and strengthening accountability and the rule of law; integrating human rights in development and in the economic sphere; widening the democratic space; and early warning and protection of human rights in situations of conflict, violence and insecurity.

The Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression  is an independent expert appointed by the Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a country situation or a specific human rights theme.

Association of Journalists of Macedonia - Stakeholders

The Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM) is an independent, non-governmental and non- political party organization whose purpose is to be the protector and promoter of professional standards and freedom of expression.

It also offers practical support.

Specific objectives of the AJM include:
-Defend freedom of press, radio, television and other media;
-Fights against their abuse, the creation of monopolies and any form of censorship that affects the determination of truth, complete, unbiased, updated public information;
-Protects and promotes the freedom of rights and responsibilities of journalists, based on the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Macedonia, Statute and Acts of AJM, and international documents concerning the freedom of the media, and the exercise of expression and information as basic Human Rights.
-Protect the reputation and dignity of the journalists and the journalistic profession and protects and promotes freedom of critical and creative work.
-Represent its members in front of the community and actively participates in the preparation of legislation and inter-national conventions of interest to the profession and defend the journalistic interest in regards of the Code of Ethics.

The Association was founded in 1946 and is a member of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). AJM publishes in Macedonian, Albanian and English.