Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right, enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
\nBut around the world, Governments and those who wield power use many different ways to obstruct it.
\nThey impose high taxes on newsprint, making newspapers so expensive that people cannot afford to buy them.
\nIndependent radio and TV stations are forced off the air if they criticize Government policies.
\nThe censors are active in cyberspace too, preventing people from accessing websites for political reasons, and arresting citizen journalists.
\nIn some parts of the world, journalists are imprisoned for years, on dubious or non-existent charges.
\nElsewhere, they risk intimidation and harassment, and even their lives, simply for doing their jobs.
\nSimply for exercising their right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas, through any media, and regardless of frontiers.
\nLast year, UNESCO condemned the killing of 77 journalists.
\nThese were not high-profile war correspondents, killed in the heat of battle.
\nMost of them worked for small, local publications in peacetime. They were killed for attempting to expose wrongdoing or corruption.
\nI condemn these murders and insist that the perpetrators are brought to justice.
\nAll Governments have a duty to protect those who work in the media.
\nThis protection must include investigating and prosecuting those who commit crimes against journalists.
\nImpunity gives the green light to criminals and murderers, and empowers those who have something to hide.
\nOver the long term, it has a corrosive and corrupting effect on society as a whole.
\nLadies and gentlemen, distinguished members of the media,
\nOur theme this year is Freedom of Information: the right to know.
\nThe good news is that there is a global trend towards new laws which recognize the universal right to publicly held information.
\nBut these new laws do not always translate into action.
\nRequests for official information are often refused, or delayed, for years.
\nAt times, poor information management is to blame. But all too often, this happens because of a culture of secrecy and a lack of accountability.
\nWe must work to change attitudes and to raise awareness.
\nPeople have a right to information that affects their lives. States have a duty to provide this information. Such transparency is essential to good government.
\nLadies and gentlemen,
\nI welcome todays panel discussion on the right to know in South-East Asia. The countries of this dynamic region have a broad spectrum of standards for press freedom, and a range of serious problems, from impunity to state repression.
\nPublicising these issues, and advocating for solutions, are important ways of raising awareness and showing solidarity.
\nThe United Nations stands with persecuted journalists and media professionals everywhere.
\nToday, as every day, I call on Governments, civil society and people around the world to recognize the important work of media, and to stand up for freedom of information.
\nThank you very much.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Thank you, Mr. Akasaka, Under-Secretary-General for DPI, Excellency Dr Mohamad; Acting President of the GA, Your Excellency Ambassador Monteiro Lima; Chair of COI, President of UNCA, Mr Pioli; Ms Alfsen of UNESCO, Excellencies, Dear Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen,
\nIt is a great pleasure to be here for our annual observance of World Press Freedom Day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iepf-ngo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iepf-ngo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iepf-ngo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iepf-ngo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iepf-ngo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iepf-ngo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iepf-ngo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iepf-ngo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iepf-ngo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}