Participants of the just ended World Press Freedom Day celebration on Thursday adopted draft principles dubbed ‘The Accra Declaration’, towards promoting and improving press freedom across the world.
The two-day event, which was held in Accra had in attendance, over 900 media practitioners and international partners across the world.
[contextly_sidebar id=”pHAap0Cibj0jhKMVcwAOpxVk3Ht2IZ9R”]The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s (UNESCO) 25th Celebration of the World Press Freedom Day was on the theme: Keeping Power In Check: Media, Justice and the Rule of Law.
The Accra Declaration, therefore, seeks to uphold the role of the 4th estate in checking the excesses of power.
Given the role journalism plays regarding holding the government to account and creating a space for healthy public debate, the declaration urged UNESCO to provide leadership on the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists.
It also called on UNESCO to “continue to support efforts to monitor and promote the safety of journalists, including through capacity building of administration of justice actors, civil society and researchers and through assisting with the establishment and operations of the national safety mechanism.”
It added that UNESCO must support the “training and capacity building to journalists in the areas of digital safety and security, including the use of open and other technologies enabling such benefits of anonymity.”
The World Press Freedom Day is celebrated on May 3 to mark the anniversary of the Windhoek Declaration, a critical statement regarding the importance of freedom of the press.
The Windhoek Declaration is a statement of principles regarding the freedom of the press that was also assembled by journalists in Africa in 1991.
The statement was created at a UNESCO conference called Promoting an Independent and Pluralistic African Press that was held in the city of Windhoek, Namibia between April 29 and May 3, 1991.
The statement was later endorsed by the UNESCO General Conference and was inspired by the recent shifts towards democracy and awareness of human rights on the continent after the tumultuous 1980s.
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By: Marie-Franz Fordjoe/citinewsroom.com/Ghana
