IPI short 'My Voice' highlights experiences of humanitarian photojournalist Giles Duley
Award-winning photojournalist Giles Duley's call to never give up poignantly illustrates the need to keep fighting to uphold fundamental rights despite challenges, the International Press Institute (IPI) said today as it unveiled a short film featuring Duley to mark Human Rights Day.
Duley's positive and motivational call comes in the IPI film "My Voice". The short shows life, the world and the impact of conflict and war through the eyes of the photographer, who despite suffering serious injuries in Afghanistan in 2011 still works actively in conflict areas and uses his camera to tell his stories.
His primary focus: the amazing ability of people to persevere.
"I don't see people as victims," Duley explains in the film. "I see people as victims of circumstance ... and what leaves me speechless is the strength of people to carry on."
IPI Deputy Director Barbara Trionfi says Duley's inspiring experience provides a strong reminder of the need to continue pushing to uphold human rights, no matter how daunting that task may sometimes seem.
"Despite setbacks, despite knowing that every step forward must be guarded zealously, we all have to keep up the pressure in the fight for press freedom and journalists' safety," she explains. "Journalists, editors, NGOs, civil society - all of us.
"As Duley says when talking about overcoming the injuries he suffered while embedded with a U.S. Army unit: 'Even if I was slower, and it was harder and painful, I would always focus on what I could do, and not on what I couldn't.' Human Rights Day is a time to remind ourselves to look forward to what we can achieve, step by step, and to not be intimidated by the overall challenge."
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IPI's work on journalists' safety is part of that endeavour. The ongoing effort has seen positive results, including the adoption by the U.N. General Assembly and the U.N. Human Rights Council of resolutions intended to better protect journalists. Moving forward, IPI continues to advocate for further steps to allow journalists to perform their work safely and independently.
"My Voice" is part of IPI's #WEWANTCHANGE campaign, which focuses on five different voices highlighting five global challenges to press freedom. Rafael Marques, Daniela Pastrana, Abdullah Elshamy, Lina Ejeilat and now, Giles Duley, have all lent their voice to the campaign.
For more information on #WEWANTCHANGE or the film "My Voice", or to arrange an interview with Giles Duley, please contact IPI's Silvia Morales at smorales[at]freemedia.at.
