On the occasion of this year’s World Press Freedom Day, the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres has called for an end to the crackdown on journalists who he described as a 'voice of the voiceless'.
The full text of his speech reads:
" Journalists go to the most dangerous places to give voice to the voiceless.
Media workers suffer character assassination, sexual assault, detention, injuries and even death.
We need leaders to defend a free media. This is crucial to counter prevailing misinformation.
And we need everyone to stand for our right to truth.
On World Press Freedom Day, I call for an end to all crackdowns against journalists – because a free press advances peace and justice for all.
When we protect journalists, their words and pictures can change our world."
Every year, 3 May is a date set aside to celebrates the fundamental principles of press freedom; to evaluate press freedom around the world, to defend the media from attacks on their independence and to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the exercise of their profession.
The international day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 1993 following a Recommendation adopted at the 26th Session of UNESCO’s General Conference in 1991.
This, in turn, was a response to a call by African journalists who in 1991 produced the landmark Windhoek Declaration on media pluralism and independence.
UNESCO, the Government of Indonesia, and the Press Council of Indonesia are the organizers of the 2017 World Press Freedom Day’s main event. The UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize Ceremony takes place in Jakarta, Indonesia, from 1-4 May 2017.
HA/PR