Journalists Sanctuary International donates helmets, bulletproof vests to GhanaWeb

A media advocacy nongovernmental organisation (NGO), Journalists Sanctuary International (JSI), has donated two sets of bulletproof vests and military standard helmets to GhanaWeb, a subsidiary of the AfricaWeb Group. According to JSI, the items donated, which are press branded, form part of its effort to ensure that journalists are marked and protected to prevent assault and injuries in the line of duty. The founder of JSI, Latif Iddrisu, a journalist himself, said that the donation is part of his organisation’s aim to give practical meaning to the safety of journalists. Iddrisu, who got injured in the line of duty, said that he hopes that the equipment his outfit has donated will help prevent journalists from GhanaWeb from being injured in the front line. “I was attacked in 2018, the injuries which I am still suffering and trying to make a full recovery. It is such a terrible experience that I don’t want any journalist in this part of the world to go through and that idea birthed this NGO, Journalists Sanctuary International,” he said. About GhanaWeb GhanaWeb is Ghana’s leading digital news and online advertising portal democratising journalism, promoting freedom of expression, empowering content creators and driving business growth. The open platform launched in 1999 operates under the laws of the Netherlands, a legal setup that allows Ghanaians to express themselves freely through opinion articles, multimedia content and comments. The platform also hosts millions of user-generated content published through the GhanaWeb Reporter which is a digital media sharing platform integrated into the GhanaWeb App to give citizen journalists and content creators direct access to publish a wide range of local content. Under the AfricaWeb umbrella, GhanaWeb has launched digital product innovations including the GhanaWeb TV, GhanaWeb Reporter, GhanaWeb Club, GhanaWeb Memorial, and GhanaWeb Business Pages among others. GhanaWeb is very popular among Ghanaian migrants in the United States, United Kingdom and Europe. These loyal visitors and the millions of readers in Ghana have made GhanaWeb the most popular news website in Ghana and the third most visited website in the country after Google and YouTube. About Journalist Sanctuary International Journalist Sanctuary International is an independent, not-for-profit organization founded in 2022 in Accra, Ghana. The organization has been set up to uphold the safety of journalists who at great personal cost, go to perilous places less travelled by other reporters and take frontline positions to report on issues that are given less, or ‘armchair’ news coverage because of the risks involved. JSI does this by supplying Journalists with protective equipment (Military standard helmets and bulletproof vests). Additionally, expertly designed training on security and safety, and the significance of environmental awareness are offered to journalists. Beyond the distribution of protective equipment and the specially designed safety training programs, Journalist Sanctuary International offers refresher training on journalism trends aimed at getting Reporters to stay relevant in a craft that is fast changing with time. JSI also marshals, publishes, and takes action on behalf of Journalists who may come under any form of attack whiles doing their work anywhere in the world. One other important role we perform is to conduct research, engage experts to draft bills, and lobby the legislative branch of government for the passage of same into law to help create a sanctuary environment for journalists to practice their trade without fear. You can also watch this episode of People & Places on GhanaWeb TV: Watch the latest episode of The Lowdown below: IB/BOG