Journalists’ Pact for Strengthening Civil Peace in Lebanon, a fruitful
collaboration
21 editors-in-chief from various media outlets sat together on March 7 th 2013, to discuss the
content of the Journalists’ Pact which has been elaborated in direct consultation with them
aiming at strengthening civil peace.
The official launch of the pact was held on June 25th at Phoenicia Hotel, under the patronage of
H.E Minister of Information, Mr. Walid Daouk, and the presence of UNDP Resident
Representative Mr. Robert Watkins, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon
Ambassador Angelina Eichhorst as well as journalists, reporters and key local media figures.
Ibrahim Farhat, director of Public Relations at Al
Manar TV station stressed on the importance of
what was accomplished saying: “This is a positive
step forward towards attaining freedom of
speech and lowering the intensity of political and
social provocation. Answering a question about
what additional incentives this pact provides, he
answered: “this is the first step, and it must be respected by all in order to reach better results,
and the discussion itself that was held between the different journalists in March is in itself a
positive aspect.”
The main challenge he found for applying the guidelines was the general situation in Lebanon:
“the journalist has the responsibility to be instantly present at any location to cover an event,
which is a challenging task. He should be cautious in dealing with information and aware of the
details that are being presented to the public despite the importance of being pioneers in
providing a story before any other TV station.”
UNDP “Strengthening Civil Peace in Lebanon Project”
believes in the vital contribution of the honest word
and the objective opinion in developing the society
and building national unity and in a spirit of respect
to the right of being different and having a different
opinion. Equally, given the ever-expanding role of
social media in broadcasting news and the rising phenomenon of “citizen journalism”, it has
become necessary to draft the guiding principles for the social media in order to strengthen
civil peace in Lebanon.
Mona Sukkar, Senior Reporter for MTV station commended
what was accomplished by saying: “The step that was taken
today is very bold; this pact that was signed today can be
applied only if each media agency puts the interest of the
country and the people before its own.”
Speeches were delivered during the ceremony by Mr. Watkins,
Ms. Eichhorst and Mr. Daouk who all focused on the importance
of the media uniting together for the issuance of the pact. The
principles agreed upon in the pact were presented and
elaborated briefly; they included 18 articles covering topics such
as respect for religions, preserving national stability and
security, anti-racism and many others. At the end of the
conference, representatives from different Lebanese media agencies signed the pact as a sign
of agreement and commitment to fulfil all the guidelines mentioned.
The UNDP Strengthening Civil Peace in Lebanon project, implemented with financial support
from the European Union, addresses the underlying causes of conflict and tensions in Lebanon.
The partnership between UNDP and the EU started in 2011 and aims at strengthening civil
peace in Lebanon. The project creates “safe spaces” for local identity groups to discuss their
concerns openly and enhance mutual understanding of the “other”. It aims at enhancing social
cohesion between civil society (youth, educators, media, and NGOs) and relevant local public
actors (municipal council members and mukhtars) at the local, community and national levels.