The International Conference on the Protection of Journalists in Armed Conflicts opened at the Sheraton Grand Doha on Wednesday, October 8th, with addresses from H.E. Ms. Maryam bint Abdullah Al-Attiyah: Chairperson of the National Human Rights Committee, and H.E. Sheikh Nasser Bin Faisal Al-Thani, Director General of Al Jazeera Media Network. It was a sober start, one that reminded everyone present that journalism’s value is often measured not in accolades but in endurance, sometimes in sheer survival.

Delegates came from dozens of countries.

Recorded statements arrived from UN and African Union rapporteurs, UNESCO officials, the ICC, and the UN Human Rights Office.

The sessions themselves were well attended.

Reporters from Gaza, Syria, and Sudan spoke plainly, each a witness, each a target. Names of colleagues who were missing, imprisoned, or killed surfaced repeatedly.

The risk, it seemed, was not just abstract; it was immediate. Personal.

A moment of silence was observed.

Outside the conference hall, an exhibition displayed the faces of journalists who had been martyred in the pursuit of truth. Their work, now memorialised, reminded those present that courage is its own legacy.

Tomorrow, the conference will turn to strategy, policy, and prevention.