UN meeting to address safety of journalists
In the first nine months of 2012, 95 journalists, and bloggers were killed, a dramatic increase compared to previous years. The 2nd UN Meeting on the Safety of Journalists and Impunity will be held in Vienna from 22- 23 Nov. as part of international efforts to stem this violence
IMS has been invited to take part in the meeting along with other international and regional institutions and national governments to provide advice and expertise on the safety and protection of journalists to the UN agencies present. The aim of the meeting is to define the implementation strategy for the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity between 2013 – 2015.
The strategy will include international, regional and national activities in four pilot countries: Iraq, Nepal, Pakistan, and South Sudan. Preparations are also underway to extend the implementation of the Plan of Action to Latin America, the region most severely affected by attacks against journalists, media workers and social media producers.
Journalists must enjoy reasonable levels of personal safety if they are to carry out their work and realize the right of all citizens to receive reliable information. States and societies are responsible for creating and maintaining the conditions required to preserve the fundamental right to freedom of expression, guaranteed by Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and combating the impunity all too often enjoyed by perpetrators of attacks against journalists.
The Inter-Agency Meeting on the Safety of Journalists is convened by UNESCO, the UN Organization responsible for media freedom. The event is co-hosted by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). It is sponsored by the Austrian Government.
The UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity represents the outcome of a process that began in 2010 at the request of the International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC). Consequently, the first UN Inter-Agency Meeting on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity took place at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on 13-14 September 2011.
Meeting agenda
The public event will include a Round-table organised by the International Press Institute (IPI) with the participation of Frank La Rue, UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; Christof Heyns, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; Pansy Tlakula, Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa, African Union Commission (AUC); Dunja Mijatović, Representative on Freedom of the Media, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE); Alexandra Föderl-Schmid, Editor-in-Chief,Der Standard, Austria and Member of the IPI Executive Board.
IMS will moderate a session aimed at establishing a common vision amongst civil society organisations on the UN Safety and protection action plan prior to the meeting on 22 November. Reporters without Borders will also moderate a discussion with the Swedish journalists recently freed in Ethiopia, Martin Schibbye and Johan Persson.
The first part of the Vienna meeting, on the morning of 22 November will be open to the press. This will include a press conference with Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal, Under-Secretary-General, United Nations Department of Public Information (UN DPI); Jānis Kārkliņš, UNESCO Assistant Director-General in charge of the Communication and Information Sector (9 to 10 a.m. at, Presseclub Concordia, Bankgasse 8, 1010 Vienna).
For more information contact Silvia Chocarro Marcesse, UNESCO, Tel. +33 (0) 1 45684261, email: s.chocarro-marcesse@unesco.org.
