Journalists for Human Rights

Journalists for Human Rights (JHR) is pleased to launch our 2026 Call for Applications for journalists and community reporters under our Amplifying Voices of Women and Girls program! We are inviting full-time and freelance journalists and community reporters from Morocco, Tunisia, Mali, DRC, Kenya, South Sudan, Lebanon, Iraq, and the Philippines, as well as Syrian journalists in Türkiye and Somali journalists in Kenya, to apply.

In Bamako, the first edition of the Pan-African Media Forum (FOPAME) took place from June 3 to 6, 2026, under the theme: “Uniting voices, Strengthening ties between African media”. The historical media event focused on the challenges of digital transformation, the rise of artificial intelligence and Africa’s need to build a sovereign media narrative.

JHR is thrilled to announce that the BIPOC Youth Journalism Training Fellowship is back for its fourth year! Funded by the Government of Canada and RBC, the program provides flexible paid work placements to emerging journalists of colour, equipping them with the skills, mentorship, and experience they need to pursue careers in journalism.

On 22 May 2026, Journalists for Human Rights (JHR) convened an early morning session at GLOBSEC, the second largest security conference in Prague. It drew a full room and produced a concrete outcome: the launch of a declaration establishing the Global Alliance Against Transnational Repression, signed on the spot by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, President-Elect of Belarus.

“In 2002, the number of countries said to be facing “grave” difficulties with press freedom was 13.7 percent. Now, it’s more than half.” This was just one of the key insights that JHR President Rachel Pulfer shared to a room of both journalists and the general public during the Liberty of the Press in The World panel at the Festival International de Journalism in Carleton-sur-Mer, curated by Bertin Leblanc.

By Rachel Pulfer, JHR President Natalia Arno with her Free Russia Foundation VP Vladimir Kara-Murza (right) at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Natalia Arno is smiling. The founder and president of the Free Russia Foundation, Arno is currently in Strasbourg. She’s one of 15 Russian delegates participating in the Council of Europe, a gathering of delegations from 46 countries mandated to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law across the continent.

After JHR ran a workshop series for young content creators and students, Bamako youth have committed to play their part in challenging disinformation and hate speech in their communities. One participant Tiémoko Kassongué pledged, “From now on, I will verify information before sharing it online.

By Mercy Njoroge Two Kenyan journalists and a Nigerian journalist were awarded at the 2026 JHR co-sponsored Africa Media Awards, held during the Africa Media Festival organized by Baraza Media Lab on February 25-26 in Nairobi, Kenya. The winning award went to Robert Amalemba, a Kenyan journalist with Afrique XXI, who won the top award for his story titled “Exposing a $2B Scam, Stranded in Exile: Kenya’s Whistleblower Trap“.

Happy World Radio Day 2026! In the hardest-to-reach places, radio is still the most powerful tool for documenting truth and sparking change. Today we’re celebrating the journalists and stations carrying marginalized voices every single day. Kenya: “Radio is the only place where we feel heard” Millicent Sabwami is Station Manager at North Rift Radio in Kenya, one of JHR’s long-time partners.

Fellows in JHR’s Growing Indigenous Storytellers Fellowship conclude their six-month placement at APTN with a final project that brings together everything they’ve learned through the program. JHR is proud to present the final projects of the fellowship’s first cohort, Angela Belleau and Veronica Blackhawk, and second cohort, Ryan Cunningham, Rose Jacobs and Julia Ross.