United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues participants invited to free side event April 18 and day-long training April 20, hosted by IJA, Grist and CCUNESCO
The Indigenous Journalists Association (IJA), Grist and CCUNESCO will host the ‘Share Your Story: Communicate Effectively with Journalists’ training to participants of the 23rd Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) on Saturday, April 20 at the American Indian Community House, 275 Madison Ave., from 10 a.m -5 p.m. ET.
The training is limited to 20 participants. Registration is required and closes Thursday, April 18 at 6 p.m. ET.
The free training is open to all UNPFII attendees and teaches participants how to communicate more effectively with journalists in order to share their stories with the media.
Indigenous attendees of the permanent forum travel to UN headquarters in New York, NY., to advocate for their communities, often leaving important stories on the floor of the forum. “Share Your Story” aims to bridge the gap between Indigenous Peoples and the media by offering this training for the second consecutive year at no cost. Participants will learn how to hone and craft their messages while developing relationships with Indigenous journalists in the U.S. and Canada.
IJA was granted Non Governmental Organization (NGO) consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in 2021. ‘Share Your Story: Communicate Effectively with Journalists’ launched at the 22nd UNPFII and was offered a second time at the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP) in Geneva, Switzerland on July 18, 2023.
The day-long event will be facilitated by Tristan Ahtone (Kiowa), Editor at Large, Grist, with training by past and present IJA leadership:
- Graham Lee Brewer (Cherokee), National Reporter, Race and Ethnicity, Associated Press
- Angel Moore (Peguis First Nation), Video Journalist, APTN News
- Joseph Lee (Aquinnah Wampanoag), Freelance Reporter
- Zoya Teirstein, Staff Writer, Grist
The hands-on training will be led in English. Coffee, snacks and lunch will be provided. Registration will close April 18 at 6 p.m. ET.
‘Share Your Story’ side event on April 18
IJA and Grist will co-host an official UNPFII “Share Your Story” side event at UN Headquarters in Conference Room 11 from 3-4:15 p.m. ET on Thursday, April 18. The side event will provide a crash-course in honing messages, focusing communications, and working with reporters and serve as a primer for participants attending the day-long training on Saturday, April 20.
For questions, please contact fcompton@naja.com.
