Press freedom and the safety of journalists
(1991–today)
In 1991, African independent journalists gathered in Windhoek, Namibia at a UNESCO seminar on the promotion of independent and pluralistic African media. In a climate of optimism, partly due to Namibia’s newfound freedom, the Windhoek Declaration was adopted: it asserted that States should be proactive in protecting journalists and advancing opportunities for citizens to exercise freedom of expression, while avoiding control of the media.
In 1993, 3 May was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly World Press Freedom Day. It has been commemorated ever since to celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom, to discuss key trends in press freedom around the world and to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the exercise of their profession.
Since 1997, the annual UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize honours a person or organization that has made an outstanding contribution to the defence of press freedom. UNESCO condemns each killing of a journalist, and presents the biannual Report on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity to the Intergovernmental Council of the International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) since 2008.
The UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, endorsed in 2012 by the UN Chief Executives Board, is the result of a process that began upon request of the IPDC. The International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists was proclaimed in 2013.
According to UNESCO’s latest statistics, 89 per cent of crimes against journalists go unpunished. Such impunity perpetuates cycles of violence and the resulting self-censorship deprives society of information. It directly impacts the UNs’ human rights-based efforts to promote peace, security and sustainable development, particularly SDG 16, ‘to promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies’, and its target 16.10 on ensuring public access to information and protecting fundamental freedoms, on which the IPDC monitors progress. In 2018, UNESCO launched the Observatory of Killed Journalists, which gathers information on each killing and on the judicial follow-up, based on the information provided by the country in which the killing took place. The most recent of a series of UNESCO co-organized online awareness-raising campaigns was #TruthNeverDies, which reached 800 million people through social media. Every year UNESCO co-organizes capacity-building workshops for judges and prosecutors in many countries with the support of local judiciary institutions.
UNESCO takes effective measures to tackle the issue of the safety of women journalists. For instance, UNESCO inquires on specific actions taken to address safety of women journalists in its annual request to Member States regarding judicial follow-up of killings of journalists. In 2021, UNESCO released a pioneering discussion paper pointing to a sharp increase in online violence against women journalists and dissecting the orchestrated campaigns behind this toxic phenomenon
(1991–today)
In 1991, African independent journalists gathered in Windhoek, Namibia at a UNESCO seminar on the promotion of independent and pluralistic African media. In a climate of optimism, partly due to Namibia’s newfound freedom, the Windhoek Declaration was adopted: it asserted that States should be proactive in protecting journalists and advancing opportunities for citizens to exercise freedom of expression, while avoiding control of the media.
In 1993, 3 May was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly World Press Freedom Day. It has been commemorated ever since to celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom, to discuss key trends in press freedom around the world and to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the exercise of their profession.
Since 1997, the annual UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize honours a person or organization that has made an outstanding contribution to the defence of press freedom. UNESCO condemns each killing of a journalist, and presents the biannual Report on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity to the Intergovernmental Council of the International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) since 2008.
The UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, endorsed in 2012 by the UN Chief Executives Board, is the result of a process that began upon request of the IPDC. The International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists was proclaimed in 2013.
According to UNESCO’s latest statistics, 89 per cent of crimes against journalists go unpunished. Such impunity perpetuates cycles of violence and the resulting self-censorship deprives society of information. It directly impacts the UNs’ human rights-based efforts to promote peace, security and sustainable development, particularly SDG 16, ‘to promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies’, and its target 16.10 on ensuring public access to information and protecting fundamental freedoms, on which the IPDC monitors progress. In 2018, UNESCO launched the Observatory of Killed Journalists, which gathers information on each killing and on the judicial follow-up, based on the information provided by the country in which the killing took place. The most recent of a series of UNESCO co-organized online awareness-raising campaigns was #TruthNeverDies, which reached 800 million people through social media. Every year UNESCO co-organizes capacity-building workshops for judges and prosecutors in many countries with the support of local judiciary institutions.
UNESCO takes effective measures to tackle the issue of the safety of women journalists. For instance, UNESCO inquires on specific actions taken to address safety of women journalists in its annual request to Member States regarding judicial follow-up of killings of journalists. In 2021, UNESCO released a pioneering discussion paper pointing to a sharp increase in online violence against women journalists and dissecting the orchestrated campaigns behind this toxic phenomenon
Shutterstock/Alexandros Michailidis