MEDIA: KEY ELEMENT IN HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION

“Family and Childhood Space” association organized, in partnership with CCDH regional office in Ouarzazate, the Press Club, the Democratic League of Women’s Rights and 4 Bac forums, the third training sessions for young journalists, from 5 to 14 November 2010.

Training workshops on printed, electronic and audio-visual press and a seminar on “The role of media in human rights education” were scheduled.

A competition was organized for the clubs of the educational institutions, the specialized faculty of Ouarzazate and the universities benefiting from the training sessions. The competition evolved around four points: the preparation of a printed magazine, blog, audio reportage and TV reportage, on the condition of working on the theme of human rights and using the techniques and skills acquired during these training sessions.

The said seminar witnessed the participation of human rights, civil society, media and university stakeholders, in addition to several young people and students.

The participants stressed the importance of human rights education in the international human rights instruments. This importance urges the international community, particularly under the United Nations, to adopt several plans of action and programs in the field.

The participants indicated that the role of media in human rights education has a fundamental referential basis in the international human rights instruments. These instruments encourage media participation in the humanitarian and human rights issues.

The necessity for involving Moroccan media in the field of human rights education was also underlined. In this context, the participants highlighted the importance of introducing human rights instruments and mechanisms to Moroccan media, focusing on the indivisibility and comprehensibility of human rights, encouraging the right to be different and the fight against discrimination against women, defending human rights protection, etc.

They emphasized that carrying out these roles depends on the continuity of the media work, away from any occasional treatment of human rights, the adoption of a pedagogical approach, respect of the active media for human rights, through strict respect for professional ethics. They also called for the need to strengthen the capacities of journalists in the field of human rights.