The Ghana Journalists Association is set to launch one of its flagship initiatives, the Journalists Support Fund.
The fund which is currently at the policy stage will be outdoor first week in October 2022.
This was made known by the President of the Association, Mr Kwabena Dwumfour when the national executive of GJA paid a courtesy call on the Managing Director of the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) on Thursday, September 15, 2022, in Accra.
According to him, one of the key factors of the fund is to help bring justice to journalists who are assaulted in the field of work.
Throwing more light on the Fund, Mr Dwumfour said, âIn the past, we realised that when journalists are attacked and assaulted or when journalist’s security and safety is being under threat, and whenever they are attacked, all we (GJA) do is to issue press statements, hold press conferences but we always leave it thereâ.
There are a lot of cases which have now become cool because we donât hear about them, we donât seem to conclude investigation on assault cases especially assault cases against journalistsâ, he stated.
With the fund, the GJA president said a legal team will be put together to defend and seek justice for journalists who are assaulted in the field of work.
âThis is by putting together a legal team who will always be called to make sure that they prosecute perpetrators or people who take the security and safety of journalists for grantedâ he explained.
In addition to legal aid, Mr Dwumfour said the Journalist Support Fund will offer capacity building as well as look out for the welfare of its members.
Other initiatives
Mr Dwumfour said the rebranding agenda of the association has commenced.
The aim of rebranding GJA, the president said will inspire hope and confidence in the masses and the association at large.
He said as part of the rebranding process, the secretariat will be given a massive facelift in the coming days.
âAs part of the rebranding, we are trying to change the look and feel of the secretariat, which is the Ghana Press Centre. We will be temporary vacating the place to enable work to commenceâ, he stated.
He, therefore, called on the bank to support the new leadership of the association in the bid to transform GJA.
SpecialisationÂ
For his part, the Managing Director of ADB, Dr. John Kofi Mensah called on journalists to specialise in agri-business reporting.
According to him, agri-business represents a major sector of industry in the country and creates many jobs for the youth, hence the need for the media to make agribusiness a priority.
He reiterated the bankâs commitment to supporting the activities of GJA such as the Journalists Support Fund, capacity building for Journalists, rebranding and refurbishment of the Press Centre, and the GJA Awards.
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