Journalists for Human Rights is Canada's largest international media development organization based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. JHR was founded in 2002 by Benjamin Peterson and Alexandra Sicotte-Levesque in 2002. JHR's mission is to "empower journalists to cover human rights stories objectively and effectively". The organization's vision is for everybody in the world to be aware of their rights. JHR believes that, "Creating rights awareness is the first and most necessary step to ending rights abuses. By mobilizing the media to spread human rights awareness, JHR informs people about human rights, empowering marginalized communities to stand up, speak out and protect themselves". JHR has partnered with more than 400 media organizations in 28 different countries to train over 15,650 journalists whose human rights stories have reached over 64.5 million people. JHR employs a "reciprocal change" approach, a process that involves local media partnerships and development outcomes determined through participatory consultation with Editors and Owners, Working Journalists, Students, and Civil Society within a region. JHR is currently led by its Executive Director, Rachel Pulfer. The organization currently has programs in South Sudan, Syria, Jordan, South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Canada.
Since 2007, JHR has worked with over 1450 journalists and journalism students in the DRC to produce media about human rights abuses, crime, corruption, democracy, and good governance. JHR initiatives have built a network of ten autonomous press clubs that span the country, and work to promote coverage of human rights issues. In 2017 alone, JHR trained over a hundred journalists in the DRC who produced 23 different stories that reached over a 100,000 individuals
Jordan
To date, JHR has trained over 250 Jordanian journalists, journalism graduates and students on human rights reporting, the majority of which have been women. JHR's commitment to improving accessibility is demonstrated through the creation of online platform Maidan. Maidan is a platform that enables the public to participate in the process of collecting data and reporting human rights violations to hold governing bodies accountable, and acts as a resource for media and CSOs. Through training, public engagement and story production, JHR has worked to increase freedom of expression in Jordan and create a space for more open, informed and constructive dialogue on human rights issues affecting the country.
South Africa
In 2017, JHR worked in partnership with the University of Witwatersrand and Ryerson University to launch the Journalism and Media Lab. Six teams of young South African journalists and media entrepreneurs entered the lab to incubate or accelerate their ideas for six months. Teams had access to mentorship, facilities, and contacts who supported them as they worked to develop new ideas in media, determine how to reach new audiences and figure out how best to sustain themselves with new revenue.
Syria
In 2017, JHR created a network of 40 Syrian journalists working inside and outside of Syria, in order to ensure that outlets working in different geographic territories can share resources, collaborate on tough stories and given outlets access to territories they cannot usually work in freely. The project in Syria is funded by the United Nations Democracy Fund.
South Sudan
JHR has partnered with UNESCO and the UN Mission in South Sudan to train over 150 journalists, and enhanced and developed the skills of 20 media managers. JHR has also trained 50 government representatives on communicating with media and on human rights issues in order to build bridges between the government, civil society, and the media to better understand the role of each sector in public life.
Canada
Since the 2013 launch of JHR's Indigenous Reporters Program, JHR has worked in Indigenous communities across northern Ontario to provide journalism and media literacy training. JHR has trained over 850 community members in 17 different Indigenous communities in Canada. They have produced more than 650 stories and new bulletins, reaching an audience of over 2.2 million people. JHR has also produced 27 scholarships and 27 internships for emerging Indigenous reporters to pursue post-secondary education and launch their careers in journalism.
Funding
JHR is a registered Canadian Charity. It receives funding from international and Canadian agencies and governments, foundations, and individual donors. JHR's Agency Partners include: Global Affairs Canada ; Ontario Trillium Foundation ; United Nations Democracy Fund ; Department for International Development ; AusAid.
Media coverage and Partnerships
JHR has received media attention in Canada, from The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and CTV.ca. In 2012, JHR partnered with CBC and Global News to send journalists from those networks to JHR projects to act as short-term journalism trainers. In May 2013, CTV's senior editor and news anchor Lisa LaFlamme mentored a network of JHR affiliated journalists in Goma, the centre of ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis since 1998. JHR partners with The Alva Foundation and Massey College on the Gordon N. Fisher-JHR Fellowship. The annual fellowship is part of the Southam Journalism Fellowships program at the University of Toronto's Massey College. JHR partners with the Canadian Association of Journalism to present an annual award for human rights reporting. JHR also presents an annual award to a news organization or team for the best human rights coverage in Canada.
