Bahrain Journalists Association (BJA) Head of International Relations Rashed Nabeel Al Hamer was elected to the Executive Committee of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). Al Hamer obtained 112 votes in the elections held at the 31st IFJ Congress in Muscat, Oman. It is the first time that a Bahraini journalist is elected to the IFJ Executive Committee. "This election to the IFJ Executive Committee reflects the confidence of the member states in the IFJ and the good reputation of the Bahraini press in international circles as well as its advanced levels of freedom of opinion and expression," Al Hamer said. The BJA became a full member of the IFJ in October 2003. The IFJ, the world's largest organisation of journalists, represents 600,000 media professionals from 187 trade unions and associations in more than 140 countries. Established in 1926, the IFJ is the organisation that speaks for journalists within the United Nations system and within the international trade union movement. First established as the Fédération Internationale des Journalistes (FIJ) in 1926 in Paris, it was relaunched as the International Organization of Journalists (IOJ) in 1946, but lost its Western members to the Cold War and re-emerged in its present form in 1952 in Brussels. According to its website, the IFJ organises collective action to support journalists' unions and promotes international action to defend press freedom and social justice. The IFJ opposes discrimination of all kinds and fights for gender equality in all its structures, policies and programmes. — BNA
