AJMI – Doha

On Monday, November 3, Al Jazeera Media Institute participated in a virtual panel discussion in response to an invitation from Education Above All Foundation, held on the sidelines of the Second Global Summit for Social Development in Doha, the capital of the State of Qatar.

The Institute was represented by Ms. Raghda Jamal, head of Al Jazeera Volunteering Initiative, who emphasized in her speech that stories of displaced youth have always been told on behalf of them, not by them,’ which automatically places them in the position of victims, people who are spoken about rather than listened to. She urged the media to reverse this equation by giving young people the tools and opportunities to become narrators of their own stories rather than merely their subjects, affirming that storytelling is not only a means of communication but also an act of reclaiming identity and hope.

Raghda stressed that Al Jazeera Institute continuously strives to empower youth with storytelling tools, praising graduation projects of trainees of the Institute, noting that genuine and authentic stories always find their way to hearts of audiences.
Raghda addressed international organizations, saying: “Storytelling is not merely about giving voice to the voiceless, but about listening deeply enough for their voices to be heard as they truly are”.  She also spoke directly to displaced youth: ‘Reclaim your narratives… these are your stories, and they must be told in your own voices,’ and to journalists: “‘Journalism is an ethical responsibility before it is a means of conveying reality, a responsibility to listen, to question and to care, so that we understand one another as human beings.’

She also highlighted ‘Al Jazeera Ambassadors’ initiative, launched by the Institute in 2012 to offer free training to young journalists and storytellers, reaching more than 18,000 students across Arab world and beyond. She reaffirmed the Institute’s belief that media literacy is a right for all, not a privilege for elites.