Press Freedom

HRC63 Media Engagement Programme in Geneva for Ukrainian journalists

From 21 to 25 September, ten Ukrainian media professionals took part in the Media Engagement Programme, a five-day professional exchange for journalists in Geneva held during the 63rd session of the UN Human Rights Council. The programme was initiated by the FNF Human Rights Hub in Geneva and Universal Rights Group, in cooperation with Friedrich Naumann Foundation Ukraine.

The programme centred on practical engagement with international human rights and accountability mechanisms. It combined first-hand exposure to the Human Rights Council with thematic briefings and professional exchange, highlighting the sources, procedures and expert contacts these mechanisms can offer journalists in their work.

At the Palais des Nations, participants met Ukraine’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Yevhenii Tsymbaliuk, and attended the interactive dialogue with the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine. In its oral update, the Commission addressed, among other issues, the impact of systematic Russian attacks on energy infrastructure, the militarisation of education in temporarily occupied territories, and the recruitment of foreign nationals into the Russian armed forces.

Other sessions focused on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and Ukraine’s fourth-cycle review. An important media component was the professional exchange with ARD in Geneva on the work of an international correspondent bureau and on reporting human rights and diplomacy.

The programme included meetings with the EU Delegation and diplomatic missions, as well as briefings with members of core groups working on Human Rights Council resolutions on the protection of journalists and freedom of expression.

Mutual professional exchange was central to the programme. For Ukrainian journalists, it provided direct access to experts, institutions and international mechanisms working on human rights and accountability. For their counterparts in Geneva, this was an opportunity to hear first-hand accounts from media professionals who are documenting the consequences of Russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine, war crimes and other breaches of international humanitarian law and human rights, life in the temporarily occupied territories, as well as Russian disinformation campaigns.

Our thanks to the FNF Human Rights Hub and Universal Rights Group, as well as to all speakers and participants, for a substantive programme and open professional exchange.