UNESCO and OHCHR launch Global Drive for Media Freedom and Safety of Journalists

It follows the announcement by Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok the 2020 World Press Freedom Day conference in The Hague last December that The Netherlands was specially earmarking €7 million to promote media freedom and the safety of journalists worldwide in the wake of The Hague Commitment signed by more than 50 ministers.

The Netherlands, which already supports UNESCO and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), subsequently invited the two UN organizations to develop this further how the funding could used.

The result is a new level co-operation between the two UN bodies which will foster an independent and free media and public recognition of the value of access to information, and contribute to ending impunity for attacks against journalists, including a particular focus on women journalists.

During the launch of the Global Drive, Bahia Tahzib-Lie, Netherlands Human Rights Ambassador, called for global implementation hoping that this new initiative will persuade more countries to effectively use and implement the international standards already in place.

'The Hague commitment offers some practical guidance on how to do so - like utilizing the UPR but also encouraging countries to really live up to their commitments to the UN Plan of action, to co-sponsor relevant resolutions at the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly and support the UN Special Rapporteurs and available regional mechanisms, so we very much hope that many more countries will answer this call', she said.

UNESCO will use the funds to contribute to upscale ongoing actions implemented in over 20 countries through the Multi Donor Programme on Freedom of Expression and the Safety of Journalists (MDP). In particular, the resources will allow for more countries, with OHCHR, around the '3 Ps' for ensuring journalists can work without duress: Prevention, Protection and, Prosecution. On the country level, this will include awareness raising and institutional support to both duty bearers and rights holders.

Overall, the funding will amplify UNESCO's online training courses developed with the international association of prosecutors, as an element of the complete legal picture where 18,000 Judges in 60 countries have been trained in the past 5 years, alongside 8,500 law enforcement officers in about 20 countries.

OHCHR is using the additional resources to further increase its impact on the protection of media freedom and journalists on the ground through its country and regional offices, including during elections, social protests, or armed conflict situations. To guarantee an effective and sustainable response to the challenges journalists face, OHCHR will increase its support to local and regional protection networks, notably for women journalists, and actively partner with public institutions, national human rights institutions, journalists and other civil society actors.

Working both jointly and in complementary ways, the two organizations will help to drive coordinated and effective international engagement against attacks on media freedom and journalists.

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