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Governments, civil society and intergovernmental organizations strengthen commitments to UN Plan of Action for next 10 years
Over 50 countries signed the for their ongoing support to the work of the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity during a High-level conference marking the 10th Anniversary of the Plan in Vienna, Austria on 3-4 November
Also, over 40 states made of more than $100 m to projects related to the safety of journalists. The pledges ranged from increased financial support, to diplomatic commitments, national activities and new initiatives for UNESCO and civil society projects.
The conference, organized by the Government of Austria in cooperation with UNESCO and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, brought together 380 participants from over hundred civil society, regional intergovernmental organizations, UN bodies, media organizations and governments to take stock of the state of the safety of journalists and the issue of impunity after 10 years of action. The goal was to reflect on achievements and lessons learnt, and thus to reaffirm, recommit and reposition the UN Plan of Action for the next decade by the common force of all stakeholders.
Delivering opening remarks to the conference, UNESCO Director-General, Audrey Azoulay, drew attention to the new challenges facing freedom of expression and the safety of journalists. Namely that with digital technologies have come new threats, seeking to intimidate journalists, to block investigations and to reduce journalists to silence. These threats include online harassment campaigns, targeting women journalists in particular.
As the world faces unprecedented challenges, we need journalists more than ever – to establish the facts we face.
The Director-General emphasised UNESCO ‘s work to build capacity, including training judges, prosecutors, and police forces. She also paid tribute to the collective work by all stakeholders to implement the Plan.
The conference followed in all regions where different stakeholders met to take stock on what achieved in the first decade of the implementation of the Plan, and to discuss how to improve journalists‘ safety in the face of new and complex threats. The consultations provided the high-level event with concrete recommendations from the regions, and also on the three thematic areas of the Safety of Women Journalists, Digital Challenges and on the role of Academic research.
In his opening remarks, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk emphasised the role of journalists:
Journalists uncover issues some would rather keep hidden. They dig in the deepest, darkest holes, looking for – and untangling - information. They are an antidote to the death of facts.
He called for redoubling efforts to support journalists, professional associations, and relevant civil society organizations – to bolster their knowledge of their own rights and of protection measures available to them. He also emphasised the need to work with governments, law enforcement, the military, prosecutors, and the judiciary to support them to meet their obligations under international human rights law.
The keynote speaker, 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Dmitry Muratov focussed on the role of journalists in the face of propaganda and asked for increased support to independent media and journalists in exile, promoting an idea of a special fund to be set up for these purposes in the name of his long-standing journalist colleague, Anna Politkovskaya, who was killed in 2006 and was recipient of the UNESCO Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Award.
Further to Muratov‘s keynote, the opening session heard powerful testimonies from journalists from different regions on the threats they have faced and are met with in their work, including threats and intimidation, harassment and sexual violence.
A pre-conference gathered civil society discussing the identified good practices along the thematic priorities of the UN Plan of Action, and the need build upon lessons learnt and emerging threats to strengthen its impact. The conclusions of the civil society discussions were then brought to the main conference in a special session.
During the proceedings UNESCO organized a panel of UNESCO specialists from different regions of the world reporting the consultative process to mark the 10th anniversary and present findings and recommendations of that process ( Outcome Report).
Overall, the close to 400 conference participants representing different stakeholder groups convened on the UN Plan finding it fit for purpose and to be carried forward, tackling impunity as well as the proliferation of gender- specific attacks, particularly online, which emerged as a major challenge. Improving monitoring and reporting, as well as advocating for Internet platform transparency will be among top priorities to reaffirm, recommit and reposition the UN Plan to protect journalists over the next decade and beyond.
