2022 subjects: Women, Peace, Security, and #Infowar. The Forum, born in 2016, will take place from the 21st to the 25th of November in Bari.
60 hours of training, 80 peace builders coming from Euro-Mediterranean countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs official seal. Pivotal the role of the University of Bari in the national implementation of the ONU 1325 Resolution, “Women, Peace, security”
ROME – The Forum of Mediterranean Journalists (https://www.giornaliste.org/) reaches its 7th edition. Since 2016, it takes place close to the 25th of November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
The schedule is impressive: three roundtables, 60 hours of training, 9 days, 80 peacebuilders, journalists, activists, and academics from Euro-Mediterranean countries and from Afghanistan, Iran, Russia, Ukraine, the Sahel, Birmania, Tigray, Colombia.
A double common thread appears: “Women, Peace, Security” and “Infowar”. The Forum’s mission remains unchanged: “To build bridges and break down walls, whilst promoting a reflection on the work of investigative journalists, as garrisons of Democracy and peace”.
In this edition, the reflection will focus on “Bodies, ecosystems, communities: dismembered by conflicts, mended by women”, shining a light on the practices of peace-building put into action by women over those territories destroyed by wars.
Since the first edition, the University of Bari (along with the Department of Education, Psychology, Communication, MA in Journalism and Balab, Center of innovation and creativity) has shared the values of the project and now hosts the second session, placing it in the educational program of the “Science of Human Relations” P.h.D and by recognizing ECTS to its students.
The Forum is funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and, for Bari’s section, by Corecom Puglia.
It is coordinated by Pangea’s team and from the Organization of Mediterranean Journalists, in collaboration with Corecom Puglia, University of Bari, the journalists of IdeaDinamica cooperative, Giulia Giornaliste.
Meetings will be broadcasted online over the Forum of Mediterranean Women, Fondazione Pangea Onlus, MA in Journalism of the University of Bari, Giulia giornaliste and IdeaDinamica cooperative Facebook pages.
The meetings scheduled in Bari will give out credits to the journalists: consult the online platform: https://www.formazionegiornalisti.it/
This year the Forum also enters the “Google news Lab”: Google’s project dedicated to journalists for learning how to use those tools devoted to investigative journalism. Some panels, in fact, will commit both to studying these new innovative ways of investigation and to learning how to utilise the security practices thought to shield oneself from the web risks (hate speech included, which especially targets women).
THREE POSITION PAPERS
A massive networking process and everything that will emerge in our sensibilisation and training events will be the foundation to develop three position papers on the Agenda DPS-WPS regarding the issues brought up by the Women Peace and Security Forum, such as ideological, social, political, religious, environmental issues in three areas of crisis: Afghanistan, Ukraine, the Sahel. Those position papers will then be distributed and published on the project and the partners’ websites.
During the Forum’s first session, which took place last year in Rome from the 9th to the 12th of November, activists, peacebuilders, and journalists from Afghanistan, Ukraine and the Sahel elaborated three documents that will be discussed in Bari.
Simona Lanzoni, statement
“The Forum this year enters an international political environment increasingly torn apart by wars.
War is, as always, the tool by which we redefine power. Therefore, when it’s the weapons doing the talking, women often are deleted, forced into a subordinated position and only seen as victims.
It is, instead, fundamental that we recognise their role in the peace processes, in reconstructing the social and human tissue and in the resolution of conflicts. This is often forgotten or silenced as a role since historically wars are told from a man’s perspective. Through this event, we bring together women working towards peace, researchers, humanitarian workers, scholars, journalists, and human rights activists from places ravaged by war such as Afghanistan, Ukraine, or the Sahel. We want to claim back the active role women play in the peace process and reiterate that the agenda linked to the 1325 Security Council Resolution and the following ones on Women, Peace, and Security recognize them not only as victims but also as political peace-builders.
It is pivotal we take on this concept when we talk about conflicts because even though actors and countries shift, the main essence stays: in Ukraine such as in Afghanistan or the Sahel it is on the women that the economical and social expense falls during wars. It is over their bodies, emotions, intelligence. Wars force them into poverty and invisibility since wars make any other area except governments, armies and men invisible. For this reason, we must let women all over the world speak, because their contribution is fundamental for defending human rights and for dismantling those gender inequalities war wishes to reinforce.
The women we invited claim back an active role in peace processes, as mediators and solvers of conflicts. Let us say together stop wars, it is time we begin a new story. Peace is built through Peace”.
Simona Lanzoni, vice president of Fondazione Pangea Onlus
Marilù Mastrogiovanni, statement
“We often observe a “pornographic” depiction of war: a pleased dwelling over on details, an absence of respect towards the victims, the negation of speech to those who oppose to war, of those who disagree, and those who rebuild. With this year’s Forum we focus on the peace-building process enacted by women, they build relationships and practice peace not to be seen as a truce, but as a preventive and contrastive action towards war. For this reason, this year as well as the previous ones the Forum commits to giving voices to the journalists that every day, through recounting and in-depth studying, and even by putting their life at risk, become human rights defenders.
In a moment where in our country the freedom of press and speech is being targeted, we will continue to amplify women’s voices, spinning an ever-growing web of journalists, activists, scholars, gender studies experts, aid workers, casting our eyes towards those women coming from harsh realities.
Our compass will be the Declaration of the Rights of Women originated from the World Conference on Women in Beijing and the 1325 ONU Resolution and the deep belief that the freedom of press and speech, alongside knowledge, are inviolable human rights”.
Marilù Mastrogiovanni, journalist, founder of the Forum of Mediterranean Women Journalists
Partnerships
Our forum, already present over at the Unesco, ONU, Osce, Anna Lindh Foundation tables, is founded from the Corecom Puglia, during the session taking place in Bari.
It has the patronage of the University of Bari, the National Federation of the Italian press, Assostampa, the Order of Journalists in Apulia and Ossigeno per l’Informazione.
To the broad web of the Forum of Mediterranean Women Journalists adhere: the National Order of Journalists, FNSI-National Federation of Italian press, Amnesty International, Reporters without borders, Ossigeno per l’Informazione, Order of Journalists in Apulia, Assostampa, S/Murare il Mediterraneo Research Center (University of Bari), MA in Journalism (University of Bari), For.Psi.Com Department (University of Bari), Gender Archives (University of Bari), Blab-One stop shop (University of Bari), Innovation & creativity center (University of Bari), Panagea, Reama, Anti-Violence-Center Renata Fonte, University of Malta, The Shift news (Malta), Association of European Journalists-Bulgaria, Collegi de periodistes de Catalunya, Czech Center for Investigative Journalism-Prague, Associacio Mon Comunicacio-Barcelona, Cresi-Centro European research for sustainable innovation, Uzbek-German Forum for human Rights-Berlin, Radio Radicale, Unhcr-High Commissioner of United Nation for the refugees, Presidency of the Chamber of Deputies (President Laura Boldrini); Accademia della Crusca, National Association “Articolo 21” and University of Salento.
The forum has joined the Europe4Future network.
