The Young Leaders Project in Gaza held its first session of 2017

The debate session started with an introduction to the main concepts of the training, (e.g. definition of freedom of expression) followed by a group work to identify the main sources for freedom of expression, such as local and international law and UN conventions. The training session also dealt with the participant’s ability to differentiate between the rules and regulations of the freedom of expression and its connection to the media. The importance of media was demonstrated in connection to the new media and its positive and negative effects on freedom of expression.

Afterwards, the participants were familiarized with the term “defamation” along with providing examples of defamation cases. In particular, it was shown in how far certain messages on social media websites can be considered offensive. An overview of the legal responsibility that each individual has while expressing his or her opinion was presented to the participants. A special focus was given to the fact that individuals have to be very careful about the way in which they express their opinions.

The Young Leaders Project targets active and talented youth and aims at empowering their capacities, knowledge and personal skills to enable them to play a meaningful role in the socio-political life in the future, and in order to lead to positive change in their community.