Tawakkol Karman Foundation
Training Program for Female Journalists “Lasting Peace in Yemen”
Peacebuilding | November 2018
TKF, in partnership with the Nobel Women Initiative, organized a training program for Yemeni female journalists on lasting peace in Yemen and promote opportunities for peace and moderate discourse. The training took place in Istanbul between 27 and 30 November 2018, where 15 Yemeni journalists and activists from different Arab countries participated.
The conflict in Yemen is no longer fullend of missiles and guns only. Media platforms of the parties to conflict contribute to raising and prolonging the discourse of violence, spreading hatred, and inciting regional, religious, and ethnic strife. The opposing media platforms destroy the social fabric and deepen the gap between the population, and this leads to the misrepresentation of the Yemeni will in international media.
The fall of media of the parties to the conflict in the quagmire of incitement and hatred through fueling violence, ethnic conflicts, and sectarian division. Furthermore, the promotion of hate language among Yemeni social components undermines coexistence, peace, and acceptance of others.
The use of hostile language has massive repercussions, including prolonging the conflict, and the creation of a conducive environment where violence, revolts, and enmities increase on a societal, individual, communal, and regional level. As the discourse grows, it threatens the chances of peace and reflects the unilateral view of parties to the conflict rather than the viewpoint of the Yemeni people.
The training program followed a participatory approach, and it aimed to improve the trainees’ speaking skills and train them to use effective, professional, and moderate language that will reflect the will and intentions of Yemenis who renounce violence, hate war and reject sectarian and religious divisions. The training program also aimed to create a solid common ground for Yemenis to build the new Yemen, in which democracy and law prevail.
Mrs. Misk Al-Junaid, the executive director of the foundation, hopes that the program would increase Yemeni female journalists' efficiency in conveying their just and comprehensive appeals and discourse to the international media.