Each year, the World Press Freedom Day celebrates the fundamental principles of press freedom as well as professionals and citizens who fight for the right for freedom of expression, despite the dangers existing in many areas.

The Rabat festival aims to provide a professional and public platform to foster dialogue and exchanges on freedom of expression and press freedom as fundamental pillars of a democratic society.

Among the planned key activities, the conference on 3 May, entitled "Safe to speak: ensuring freedom of expression in all media", will focus on issues of journalists’ safety, combating impunity and online safety, with journalists and bloggers’ testimonies, workshops and a presentation of the UN plan of action on the safety of journalists and the issue of impunity.

The World Press Freedom Day 2013 general theme will be discussed from a North African perspective with a particular focus on the specificities, challenges and opportunities that exist in Morocco. The conference will bring together journalists, bloggers, media professionals, civil society as well as governmental representatives. The conference will be followed by the official presentation of the new press code by the Moroccan Ministry of Communication and discussions around.

Another highlight of the festival is the international exhibition of Mail Art to promote press freedom and freedom of expression in the Arab world called "Once upon a time ... the Arab Spring" that will be launched on 4 May. The festival also includes three trainings on investigative journalism, on the techniques of web search, and on new media and citizen journalism.

The festival receives support from the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), Free Press Unlimited, International Media Support and the Embassy of Netherlands in Morocco.

Detailed programme is available at: www.amjipress.com and http://rabat.unesco.org.