Other activities
UNESCO regional offices
Press conference
5 May 2008, Kazakhstan Press Club (KPC), Almaty, Kazakhstan
The UNESCO Almaty Cluster Office jointly with UN Country Team (UNCT) in Kazakhstan is planning to celebrate this year’s World Press Freedom Day by organising a press conference that will take place on 5 May 2008. In keeping with the global theme of World Press Freedom Day for 2008 “Empowerment and Access to Information,” a 2nd annual World Press Freedom Day joint UN briefing for journalists will be dedicated to the “power of access.”
UNESCO Apia Office is supporting events in Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, and Vanautu.
Papua New Guinea – the School of Communication at the Divine Word University in the remote city of Madang is organizing a Media Freedom Day involving debates, dramas and visits by their journalism students to various communities to discuss press freedom and freedom of expression. Community visits will be broadcast on the School’s FM radio station. The Day culminates with the presentation of the UNESCO – DWU Development Communication Award for the best news article on the 2008 WPFD theme.
Samoa – the Journalist Association of Samoa is organizing a 2008 repeat of the very successful 1st 2007 Editors Forum. The 2008 Forum will again be opened by Prime Minister of Samoa. The Forum invites Editors/Directors from all of Samoa’s media organizations to present on the UNESCO’s theme for the 2008 WPFD. The Forum is very popular and entertaining and attended by represenatives from the Government, civil society organizations, and the general public. The award-winning Samoa Observer newspaper traditionally publishes a series of press freedom articles in the lead-up to WPFD: http://www.samoaobserver.ws/local/LNPages/0408/1108ln014.htm
Solomon Islands – the Media Association of the Solomon Islands is orgazing a high-level WPFD Roundtable to be opened and chaired by the Prime Minister. The keynote address will be delivered by Mr. Russell Hunter, previous Editor of the Fiji Sun newspaper who was very recently deported by the Fiji Government.
Vanuatu – the Media Association of Vanuatu is organizing a Media Freedom Day with a rally including speeches by prominent media, Government, and civil society/public figures. 3 organizations (TV, radio, newspaper) have agreed to a “media takeover” by the public with open days and open broadcasts.
Other WPFD related events are planned to take place in Fiji and the Cook Islands. All events receive signficiant national publicity and regional publicity by way of the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) PacNEWS e-bulletin. The UNESCO Apia Office also encourages prominent Pacific journalists to apply for the World Press Freedom Prize and is working with PINA to host the 2011 WPFD global celebration.
Interactive Dialogue
2 May 2008
On the occasion of the World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) UNESCO Bangkok, UNDP, UN Office for Human Rights, and the South East Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) will organize an interactive dialogue in UNESCO Bangkok. The dialogue which is to be held on 2 May 2008 from 10 a.m. to noon, will be based on the theme of this year’s WPFD celebration: freedom of expression, access to information and empowerment of the people.
The program will include messages from the Director General of UNESCO, the UN partners and an ASEAN representative followed by an interactive dialogue beginning with brief presentations by four main speakers from the Asian region. The speakers will raise pertinent issues that have bearing on press freedom and people’s access to information. It is expected that the presence of the media, regional and international actors, and academia will result in workable recommendations for steps to be undertaken towards empowering the people through free media.
Celebration of World Press Freedom Day & launching of a draft Media Charter for Lebanon
2 May 2008, Beirut, Lebanon
UNESCO Beirut is organizing World Press Freedom Day celebration under the patronage of the Minister of Information in cooperation with the National Council for Heard & Viewed Media. Interventions will be made by the following participants:
- Mr. Ghazi Al-Aridi, Minister of Information
- Mr. Abdel Hadi Mahfouz, President of the National Council for Heard & Viewed Media
- Dr. Antoine Messarra, Permanent Civil Peace Foundation
- Dr. Abdel Moneim Osman, UNESCO Beirut office, Director
The interventions will be followed by the launch of the draft Media Charter produced by UNESCO, National Council for Heard & Viewed Media.
UNESCO Journalism Award
3 May 2008, Dhaka Reporters’ Unity auditorium
UNESCO Dhaka is introducing “UNESCO Journalism Award” in commemoration of the World Press Freedom Day from 2008. The award is for the best investigative report carried or telecast in any Bangladeshi media in 2007. The winner will be given away the award worth BDT 50,000 (roughly equivalent to $732) through a ceremony that is scheduled on 3 May 2008. The event will take place in Dhaka Reporters’ Unity auditorium with participation of editors, senior media professionals, civil society members, academicians among others.
On March 3, 2008, the UNESCO Iraq office will officially launch several future activities, including the Workshop in Erbil, Kurdistan, that will gather 20-25 Iraqi media professionals and Iraqi NGO/CSO representatives with the aim of developing a media guide for Iraq with a set of guidelines how to report and represent disability in the media. The Iraq office will also launch a production of a short documentary or 7 radio spots in Arabic or Kurdish to be disseminated to the media all over Iraq focusing on people with mental and physical impairments in Iraq, highlighting their rights and offering them a platform to voice their opinion. The activities will be undertaken in joint collaboration with UNDP Iraq and the Iraqi News Agency Aswat al-Iraq.
Caribbean Media and Communication Conference
1-3 May 2008, Georgetown, Guyana
UNESCO Kingston, in cooperation with regional media organisations, is organising the tenth annual Caribbean Media and Communication Conference (CMCC), from 1 to 3 May 2008 in Georgetown, Guyana. The three-day conference will coincide with World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) on 3 May.
Organisers will use CMCC to promote discussion among media managers, media and communication professionals, policy makers, journalists and editors, independent producers and telecommunications companies throughout the region and the Diaspora. >> Read more
Media and Conflict Management Seminar
2 May 2008, Grand Regency Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya
UNESCO Nairobi and the American Embassy in Nairobi are supporting a one day seminar on Media and Conflict Management organised by the International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT). IAWRT is a professional organization of women actively engaged in radio and television programme production, broadcast management, research in electronic media and in fields allied to broadcasting. The seminar is organized within the framework of the World Press freedom celebrations and aims at contributing towards promoting peace in Kenya after the 2007 post elections violence by bringing together media editors/ executive producers’ journalists and other stakeholders to discuss the role of the media in conflict management and how the media can build bridges.
UNESCO’s New York Office commemorated World Press Freedom Day with a keynote speech by Justice Albie Sachs, a chief architect of South Africa’s post-apartheid Constitution, on "Access to information and the empowerment of people."
"Openness as a standard practice goes well beyond journalist access; it’s got as much to do with dignity of people to have voices and expression," Sachs told nearly 100 journalists, United Nations delegates, officials and representatives of media advocacy groups and foundations who attended the lecture and luncheon.
World Press Freedom Day Celebration 2008
5 May 2008, Phnom Penh Hotel, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
The UNESCO Phnom Penh office is planning to celebrate this year’s World Press Freedom Day in a half-day conference that will be organize on this occasion in cooperation with the Cambodian Communication Institute (CCI). The CCI, as an annex to the Department of Media and Communication of the Royal University of Phnom Penh provides training to professional journalists in the country and it is also a forum where professional journalists and students can share their knowledge and experiences.
Each panelist’s contribution will focus on this year’s WPFD topic ”Freedom of Press, Access to Information and the Empowerment of People” with the aim to explore how media freedom and access to information empowers people and helps them gaining control over their own lives. The conference will be taped and broadcasted.
UNESCO Quito Forum-Conference “Freedom of the press: Access, participation and alternative and public communication media”
7 May 2008, Quito, Ecuador
UNESCO Quito, the Social Communication School (FACSO) of the Central University of Ecuador and the UNESCO-IFAP project “E-government model for world heritage cities (Cartagena de Indias, Cusco and Quito)” are organizing a forum-conference on “Freedom of the press: Access, participation and alternative and public communication media” in the frame of the celebration of World Press Freedom Day 2008.
The conference will take place in Quito, Ecuador, on 7 May and will count on the participation of national and international speakers; representatives of private, community and alternative communication media; and representatives from the academic sector and the national government.
The event is open to journalists from private and public media; social communication students; independent social communicators involved with political, cultural and artistic subjects; and to all those persons engaged with the building of communication from different spaces of society.
Third International Seminar on Journalism and Digital Communication Bogotá, Colombia, 8-9 May 2008
UNESCO Quito and the Social Communication and Journalism School of the University of la Sabana are organizing the Third International Seminar on Journalism and Digital Communication in Bogotá, Colombia, on 8-9 May 2008. The seminar aims to give an academic and professional space of analysis about freedom of expression and of the press, and communication as participative processes, with special emphasis on independent initiatives from citizens, and all those communication manifestations where the audiences play a key role.
The event will be oriented towards all professionals related to communication processes involving digital communication media, especially journalists and communicators, but also professionals involved with the management of contents, leadership, marketing, and promotion and design of new communication and journalistic forms.
Non-governmental organisations(NGOs)
Conference on “Palestinian Media Dialogue and Reform”
1-3 May 2008, Jericho and Gaza
Palestinian non-governmental organization AMIN Media Network, with the participation of the UNESCO Ramallah Office will organize a three day conference that will gather and connect journalists in the West Bank and Gaza Strip for a discussion on the present situation and challenges of the media. The conference will particularly aim to create understanding and dialogue between media organizations and journalists in the conflict and raise awareness on the safety of journalists. Participants who will be connected through a video conference between the West Bank and Gaza are encouraged to develop a joint strategy for professional development, networking and reconciliation in the Palestinian media.
Media Organisations in Kyrgyzstan
Media organizations to mark World Press Freedom Day
30 April 2008, Bishkek
The Public Association "Journalists", Media Commissioner Institute, Internews Kyrgyzstan will hold a number of events on April 30 in Bishkek to mark the World Press Freedom that is annually celebrated on May 3.
The exhibition of works by cartoonists who took part in the nation-wide contest "The second most ancient profession" will be organized. The winners of this contest will be awarded.
The pool tournament among media of Bishkek will take place after the awarding ceremony.