Journalists trained on refugee laws and ethical reporting
Media Action Nepal (MAN) in collaboration with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), organized a two-day long residential media workshop for the journalists. The training workshop titled “Media Understanding on Refugee Issues in Nepal” was attended by 25 working journalists of three eastern districts of Morang, Jhapa and Ilam that took place at Ilam on May 30-31, 2018.
The training organized with an intention to discuss with working journalists about international refugee laws, media sensitivity and ethical standards on refugee reporting and the communication approach, was facilitated by Mr. Laxman Datt Pant, Chairperson of Media Action Nepal, Mr. Madhav Gautam, UNHCR Protection Officer and Mr. Deepesh Das Shrestha, UNHCR Information Officer. They dealt with different aspects of refugee laws, refugee reporting and communication approaches including protection situation and challenges in the context of Bhutanese Refugees in Nepal, general overview of the refugees in Nepal, role of media in building perspectives on refugees, professional journalism and ethical standards on refugee reporting.
Meanwhile, Mr. Tara Mani Sapkota, a participating journalist and Jhapa Chapter Chairperson of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) presented an overview on the role of media in addressing the Bhutanese refugee issues in Jhapa district, whereas Mr. Bandhu Pokharel, FNJ Morang Chapter Chair and Ms. Kopila Dhakal, FNJ Ilam Chapter Chair informed about the journalists’ efforts in disseminating news on refugee issues and the need to strengthen their capacity understanding legal obligations before Nepal.
The participating journalists shared their experiences of approaching sources and difficulties in reporting. They said that the training was instrumental in understanding key refugee laws and ethical standards on refugee reporting. The participants were provided with the certificates of recognition at the closing ceremony of the training attended by Mr. Jharendra Chapagain, District Coordination Officer of Ilam district. The training was used as an opportunity to strengthen professional capacity of the journalists while providing tips on reporting refugee issues.