Twenty-five Somali journalists and five police officers have undergone 2- day training on improving the safety of journalists, freedom of expression and public security in Mogadishu city, Somalia.

The training held at Sahafi Hotel was organized and conducted by the Federation of Somali Journalists (FESOJ) in partnership with the African Union Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) from 27th to 28th November 2022.

The key participants of the training program were journalists and managers from the various sectors of the media outlets, including Himilo Network, Star FM, Goobjog Radio, Radio Mogadishu, Rays TV, Shabelle TV, Jubba TV, SNTV, Asal TV, Freelancers, Hamar Newspaper, SODJA, SWDC and Somali National University Police officers were also in attendance at the training program.

The journalists and police officers were imparted to strengthen and increase the relationship between the journalists and security agencies to improve the safety of journalists, freedom of expression and public security.

The training was intended to promote security forces' capacity to defend citizens' rights to freedom of expression and information by improving journalist safety. The capacity-building program was also aimed at creating effective professional relationships between the journalists and the police force to achieve a better environment for freedom of expression for all the public as well.
In his opening speech, Farah Omar Nur, Secretary-General of the Federation of Somali Journalists (FESOJ), said: "The training workshop is intended to establish improved better understanding between the journalists and the police to facilitate dialogue to remove mistrust to establish a conducive environment to the safety of journalists, access of information, freedom of expression and public order.”
"We appreciate FESOJ and ATMIS for undertaking this type of training program; as a police force, we have a responsibility to ensure public security, especially for the safety of the journalists and the media.” Major Sadiq Aden Ali-Doodishe, , the Spokesman of the Somali Police Force, said in his opening remarks.

During the 2 – day training sessions, the participants were taken through the thematic topics on how to communicate with the media, operational safety procedures when dealing with journalists and freedom of expression, how the security forces can ensure the journalists can access the information they need to pass to the public.

Moreover, the participants were given an opportunity to group work on the following key themes: what is the relationship between this training theme and ATMIS, why the safety of journalists is essential, and why is cooperation between the media and security agencies, especially the police, important?

The other main themes covered in the group discussion include what the relationship between Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human and Article 9 of the African Declaration of Human Rights and what is the role of the Somali media in peace promotion and human freedom.

The participants have recommended that security agencies and the media should have close collaboration and any complaint against the journalists and the media should be passed through the legal process. Furthermore, it was advised that journalists should always respect the media's ethics.

In conclusion, Zahra Ahmed Hassan from the faculty of journalism of the Somalia National University has spoken about the significance of the training workshop and has suggested similar capacity-building programs be maintained to eventually achieve improvement for the safety of journalists, the media and the public order.

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