About JDHR

Mission statement: To sensitize media, journalists and people on democratic norms, development discourses, people’s centric governance and human rights and to build capacity of media professionals on how to cover human rights and development issues to maximize people’s space in media.

Working since 1988 and registered in 2004 in Islamabad Pakistan under Social Welfare organizations’ law, Journalists for Democracy and Human Rights (JDHR) is working as a public interest media thinktank/research organization that conducts research and sensitizes media, journalists and people on democratic norms, development discourses, people centric governance and human rights, sustainable human development, poverty and livelihood and media developments. It builds capacity of media professionals on how to cover human rights issues in media. The focus is on vulnerable segments of society such as women, children, minorities, farmers and consumers.

JDHR works through its Four Centers and Two Forums

• JDHR Centre for Democracy and Human Rights
• JDHR Centre for Trade, Economics, Environment and Development
• South Asia Centre for Economic Journalists (SACEJ)
• South Asia Policy Centre
• Child Rights Media Forum (CRMF)
• Women Journalists Forum (WJF).

All these centres and forums focus on various level networking among journalists, academia and civil society and deal with human rights and development issues with rights based approach. JDHR, being a countrywide network of media practitioners and journalists, imparts training to journalists thus building their capacity and professional skills and understanding on development discourses, democracy and human rights subjects in a plural society such as Pakistan.

Organizational structure

A leading journalist, academic and policy analyst Mr. Shafqat Munir (Tel +92-321-5305452 and email: shafmunir@gmail.com, heads the organization with prominent journalists on the Board of Governors. While senior television journalist Khalid Jamil is the secretary general of the organization. Other officer bearers included two vice presidents, joint and finance secretaries. All centres and forums are coordinated by different coordinators. Organization has four provincial heads. All these heads and office bears and members of the Board of Governors are working journalists and researchers.