Kyiv, 14 February 2020 — Journalism professors are continuing to study high ethical standards and human rights principles for media education. The third session of the Human Rights Academy for Journalism Professors was launched in Kyiv. It is devoted to non-discrimination principles and the human rights-based approach.

During three days of training, 26 participants from 18 universities will study how to highlight the topics of conflict, Roma, LGBTQI+ and persons with disabilities following high ethical standards and human rights principles. At the Academy, participants will meet human rights defenders, activists, and media experts to dive deep into the human rights topics.

The Academy’s training programme envisages four sessions, each devoted to a specific human rights challenge. During the previous sessions, participants have already studied the following topics:

• The concept of human rights;
• International and national mechanisms to stand up for human rights;
• Hate speech and how to combat it;
• How to cover the topics of refugees, migrants, and internally displaced persons in the media; and
• Gender, gender stereotypes and how the media can promote gender equality.

The recent Human Rights Progress Study showed that two out of three people in Ukraine find out about human rights issues from television, while 53 per cent of respondents acknowledged that television shapes their views on human rights. Given the high level of trust in the media, UNDP in Ukraine – together with the Institute of Journalism and ZMINA Human Rights Centre – initiated the Human Rights Academy for Journalism Professors.

This is already the Academy’s second course. The initiative is intended to promote high ethical standards in journalism when covering issues related to human rights, equality, and non-discrimination. The first Academy was initiated in September 2017 and brought together 24 professors from 20 universities across Ukraine.

Background

The initiative is being implemented in the framework of the Human Rights for Ukraine project, implemented by the UNDP in Ukraine with financial support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. More information about UNDP can be found at http://www.ua.undp.org  

Media inquiries: Yuliia Samus, UNDP Communications Specialist, communications.ukraine@undp.org, +38 044 254 0035