The European section of the Global Alliance on Media and Gender, GAMAG, reaffirms its call for dialogue and peace in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

After Russia’s attack on Ukraine that aggravates the conflict between the two countries, GAMAG Europe (GE) expresses its resounding NO to war! and reaffirms its firm call for dialogue and peace as essential elements of the human rights that our organization defends. In accordance with our fundamental values, we emphasize the importance of the citizen’s right to information and communication, which demands the utmost respect for the truth of the facts and which in no way supports –and less now– warmongering rhetoric and propaganda.

GAMAG Europe considers it essential that information professionals be able to report on the conflict and its context with the utmost freedom and without pressure.

Now more than ever, GAMAG Europe considers it essential that information professionals be able to report on the conflict and its context with the utmost freedom and without pressure. Public opinion needs truthful and reliable information about what is happening in Ukraine, especially when we know that war is never a solution to problems, but rather aggravates them and only causes destruction, death and immense collective pain.

As professionals in journalism and academia, GAMAG Europe defends freedom of expression and the undistorted account of history to build –with respect and without violence– a world in freedom, in which equality, pluralism and diversity are guaranteed. At GE we work for gender equality in and through the media, we denounce discrimination against women and we strongly reject any biased media representation that transmit a distorted image of their abilities and contributions to society.

Beyond the opinions and interpretations of the crisis and its geopolitical arguments, beyond the political and strategic analyzes of the actions of Putin, NATO or the Ukrainian Government, GAMAG Europe strongly supports peace and warns against any temptation to turn the media into loudspeakers for warmongering propaganda. In the face of aggressive rhetoric, we advocate for constructive dialogue. In the face of disqualifying insult, we advocate for calm reasoning and understanding. In the face of misinformation and false news that have proliferated throughout the crisis and in all directions, we advocate for journalistic rigor and truthful and verified information.

Although our appeals sometimes fall into the void of government irresponsibility, every day there are more, we are more, the voices that call for peace. And among those voices it is worth highlighting calls such as the one made jointly by independent women from the United States and Russia who had spent a year debating the need for nuclear disarmament. In an open letter to politicians, journalists, women and men from both countries, they have demanded that peace be preserved in order to build a common future and a better and safer world. And they have launched a special appeal to the media “so that they stop fanning the flames of war” and fulfill their ethical journalistic responsibility to highlight the high price in blood and human lives of armed conflicts.

At GAMAG Europe we will not tire of repeating: NO to war! YES to dialogue and peace!