26/08/2025
📑 Report of the Third Online Dialogue Session
📌 Title: Safety Labs – Digital Safety and Security
📅 Date: August 23, 2025
🟣 Project: Enhancing Independent Media and Promoting Human Rights in Iraq – Safety Labs
👥 Organizers: No Borders Humanity Organization (NBH) in partnership with NAZ Organization for the Development of Women and Children (NAZ) and Shafaq Al-Hayat Organization for Women and Children (SAHOFWC)
🇨🇿 Donor: Czech Development Agency (CzechAid)
🌐 Venue: Microsoft Teams (Online Session)
👥 1. Participants
Total: 25 participants
Gender distribution:
👩 12 women (48%)
👨 13 men (52%)
Categories represented:
📰 Journalists and media professionals
✊ Civil society activists
🏛️ Representatives of NGOs
🎓 Academics and university students
Governorates represented:
Dhi Qar, Basra, Maysan, Muthanna, Najaf, Qadisiyah, Babylon, Wasit, as well as participants from Kirkuk and Dohuk.
🎯 2. Session Topic
The dialogue focused on Digital Safety and Security, covering:
🔐 Key digital threats faced by journalists and activists in Iraq.
🛡️ Digital protection tools and practices (two-factor authentication, encryption, password management).
⚠️ Phishing and surveillance risks, and prevention methods.
💬 Interactive discussions and sharing experiences on preventing hacking attempts.
🏆 3. Objectives
✔️ Raise awareness on digital rights and protection tools.
✔️ Strengthen the capacities of journalists and activists to safeguard their data and online identities.
✔️ Provide a safe space for dialogue and collaboration between civil society actors and media professionals.
💡 4. Key Outcomes
🔖 Agreement on developing a simplified digital safety guide for journalists and CSOs.
📲 Establishing an online communication group to share resources and early warnings.
📚 Recommendation to conduct advanced digital security training workshops.
📝 5. Recommendations
🔹 Hold follow-up sessions to deepen digital protection skills.
🔹 Encourage CSOs and media institutions to adopt institutional digital safety protocols.
🔹 Build a support and solidarity network among media professionals and NGOs to address threats collectively.
🔚 Conclusion
The Third Online Dialogue Session under the project “Enhancing Independent Media and Promoting Human Rights in Iraq – Safety Labs”, funded by 🇨🇿 CzechAid, successfully brought together 12 women and 13 men from different Iraqi governorates and professional backgrounds.
The session produced practical recommendations to strengthen digital safety and foster a more secure online environment for journalists and human rights defenders.
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