GFMD CENTRAL

GFMD Members Celebrate World Press Freedom Day


The Global Forum for Media Development and its members around the world are joining UNESCO in celebrating World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) today. May 3rd was proclaimed as World Press Freedom Day by The United Nations General Assembly in 1993 following a recommendation adopted at the twenty-sixth session of UNESCO’s General Conference in 1991. It is a day that is dedicated to people and organizations involved in supporting free, independent and pluralistic media around the globe.

UNESCO itself is celebrating the day with a conference in Tunis. GFMD Steering Committee member Jeanette Minnie will be joining the celebrations.
“We are very pleased that this year’s World Press Freedom Day takes place in Africa and in a country where new media and social media have helped bring about social change,” she said. “But we still have many restrictions on press freedom in place in African countries and the GFMD calls on the African Union to do more to promote media freedom and access to information in Africa.”


The GFMD is supporting efforts to strengthen cooperation between different organisations active in media development, press freedom and media policy in Africa through the creation of the Pan-African Media Network (Pamnet), which brings together all pan-African and regional media support groups, press freedom organisations and media professionals. Pamnet will hold its second meeting during the WPFD celebrations in Tunis.

UNESCO also has events lined up in many parts of the world in conjunction with World Press Freedom Day, for more information go to :

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/flagship-project-activities/world-press-freedom-day/homepage/


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