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Enhancing the status of press freedom is central to UNESCO’s mandate to promote the free flow of ideas by word and image, as a vehicle for advancing peace and dialogue. The Organization recognizes freedom of expression is both a fundamental human right in itself and an enabler of other rights.

Enhancing the status of press freedom is central to UNESCO’s mandate to promote the free flow of ideas by word and image, as a vehicle for advancing peace and dialogue. The Organization recognizes freedom of expression is both a fundamental human right in itself and an enabler of other rights.  

alone journalist in war zone

Every five years, UNESCO publishes global editions of its flagship series of reports on World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development (World Trends Report). The World Trends Report responds to a key task assigned to UNESCO by its Members States in 2011 at the 36th session of the General Conference, which requested that the Organization "monitor, in close cooperation with other United Nations bodies and other relevant organizations active in this field, the status of press freedom and safety of journalists…and to report on the developments in these fields to the General Conference." 

The World Trends Report series also encompasses regular Issue Briefs, which analyse emerging issues in freedom of expression and media development. Previously, the In Focus series as well as Regional Reports also shed light on specific trends. The findings from these specialized reports are included and built upon in the Global Reports. 

All of the publications in the series are regularly presented at the UNESCO General Conferences and other key events. While UNESCO is responsible for central editorial coordination, the series is made possible with the support of several integral partnerships