Arab Bloggers Meet and Strategize at Cairo Workshop

Sherif Azer (EOHR), Ronald Meinardus and Lara Arjan (Rights and Democracy) Bloggers from all parts of the Arab world came together in Cairo from May 20 to 22, 2011 for a workshop entitled „Blogging for Freedom in the Arab world“. Co-sponsored by the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) and the Rights and Democracy organization of Canada, the three-day event aimed at creating a network of Arab citizen journalists and providing spaces for exchanges of experiences and opinion. In Cairo, just a few steps away from Tahrir Square, the bloggers also engaged in strategic discussions on how best they could support the democratic revolutions and uprisings with their personal online media.

A broad consensus emerged that the social media had played a crucial role in bringing down the autocratic rulers in Tunisia and Egypt and that, likewise, bloggers have still an important role to play in countries like Syria, Bahrain and Yemen. At the same time, participants noted that the regimes are cracking down on online dissent and threatening bloggers and other activists in their very existence. On the sidelines of the workshop, the Regional Office of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty (FNF) launched a manual on blogging in the Arabic language. The 200-page-book published in cooperation with Al Mahrousa Publishers is considered the first hands-on guidebook on the topic in Arabic. Prominent Egyptian authors share their insights regarding the various aspects of blogging.

“With this manual we want to promote citizen journalism in Egypt and the Arab world and strengthen the freedom of expression in this part of the world”, said FNF’s Regional Director Dr. Ronald Meinardus at the launching ceremony in Sawy Cultural Wheel in Cairo.

The workshop and the book are part of the project “Express Yourself and Be Free”.

You may download the manual for free:

عبر وإتحرر: دليل التدوين

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