Netherlands announces €7m funding for UNESCO-OHCHR to strengthen press freedom

The partnership will aim to put in place activities that support an independent and free press, ensure the safety of journalists – with particular focus on women journalists – promote access to information, and fight against impunity for crimes committed against media professionals.

The new partnership between UNESCO and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) will strengthen press freedom and the safety of journalists, with an endowment of seven million euros announced by Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok at the 2020 World Press Freedom Conference co-organized by UNESCO and the Kingdom of the Netherlands on 9 and 10 December.

The partnership will aim to put in place activities that support an independent and free press, ensure the safety of journalists – with particular focus on women journalists – promote access to information, and fight against impunity for crimes committed against media professionals.

Other highlights of the conference:

UNESCO and the International Center for Journalists, IFCJ, announced the findings of a global survey on online violence targeting women journalists. The announcement came at the close of the UN’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign. The survey received more than 1,000 responses from all over the world: 73% of women respondents reported having experienced online violence in connection with their work, and 20% said they had been physically abused or attacked after having been subjected to online violence.

UNESCO and the International Association of Prosecutors developed the first international guidelines on investigating and prosecuting crimes against journalists with key recommendations for prosecutors. The guidelines will help raise magistrates’ awareness and skills regarding issues of freedom of expression and journalists’ safety, and they will contribute to the fight against impunity.

Launch of an International Forum of Legal Actors, which will bring together members of the range of legal professions to exchange points of view and share best practices in protecting freedom of expression at the global, regional, and national levels. Established by UNESCO, the Asser Institute (Netherlands), and the nongovernmental organization, Free Press Unlimited, the forum, and its recommendations, will pave the way for two other forums of legal actors to be held in 2021 and 2022.

Minister Stef Blok, Irene Khan, UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, lawyer Amal Clooney, Věra Jourová, European Commission Vice-President for values and transparency, were among the participants at a high-level panel on the safety of journalists and the problem of impunity for crimes against media workers on 9 December.