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Opening Remarks by Hélène-Marie Gosselin
Director,
UNESCO Office to the United Nations
New York
Mr. Chairman,
Members of the Panel,
Distinguished Delegates,
It is a pleasure for me to be here this morning to mark World Press Freedom Day. Before I start, allow me to thank you, Mr. Chairman and the UN Department of Public Information for once again partnering with UNESCO in organizing this event. UNESCO is proud to have worked with the United Nations since the very first world gathering of media professionals in Windhoek, Namibia in May 1993. It was on that occasion that 3 May was designated to commemorate each year the importance of upholding Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Since then, UNESCO has organized international conferences in different parts of the world on 3 May to promote reflection on the many different aspects that impact on freedom of expression and freedom of the press. This year, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, as we meet this morning, a world gathering of media professionals, NGOs, UN and government representatives are discussing the role of the media in promoting democratization, good governance and human development.
UNESCO strongly believes that freedom of expression and freedom of the press are central to building strong democracies, promoting civic participation and the rule of law, and encouraging human development and security. We also believe that protecting and furthering these fundamental human rights can help further another basic human right — the right to live free from poverty. You will recall that in 2000 the United Nations Millennium Declaration called for the halving of poverty by 2015. This first Millennium Development Goal has mobilized governments, UN partners, EGOS and other stakeholders to working together to develop sustainable strategies. It is, however, increasingly feared that we are not currently on track and that we need to identify new, more innovative strategies in order to move forward more rapidly. Today, there are still more than one billion people living on one dollar per day and another 2.7 billion on two dollars per day. More than 10 million children below the age of five still die each year.
Media freedom is an indispensable cornerstone of a comprehensive and hopefully more effective international development strategy and we believe that it can help reduce the disheartening statistics that I just quoted. Freedom of expression serves as a trigger and catalyst for the realization of other basic human rights. In his message on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, UNESCO Director-General Koichiro Matsuura states and I quote, that: "It is through the exercise and practice of freedom of expression that the disadvantaged are enabled to recognize and claim the protection of their human rights. In this calculus of poverty eradication, free and independent media are a central priority."
There is a strong correlation between freedom of expression and improved quality of life including higher incomes, adult literacy and lower infant mortality. This was clearly stated in the outcome document adopted last November by the World Summit on the Information Society. There is widespread recognition that local ownership and participation are keys to achieving the Millennium Development Goals and other internationally agreed targets. Independent media serve as conduits to good governance, participatory populations and responsive elected officials thus supporting a stronger civil society, political transparency and ultimately, sustainable economic development. Nobel prize-winning economist, Amartya Sen, argues that political freedoms are linked to better economic outcomes and good governance in low income countries by encouraging responsiveness to public concerns. Sen suggests in his book Development as Freedom, that the free press enhances the voice of poor people and generates more informed choices about economic needs. The former World Bank President, James Wolfensen, also believed that a free press was not a luxury. He said "A free press is at the absolute core of equitable development, because if you cannot enfranchise poor people, if they do not have a right to expression, if there is no searchlight on corruption and inequitable practices, you cannot build the public consensus needed to bring about change".
More recently the current World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz said that not only is media freedom a universal right but it is also a pre - condition for tackling the central issue of corruption. "You really can't talk about economic development without talking about freedom of the press."
UNESCO has long supported the establishment of community multimedia centers in developing countries. These centers support access to information that citizens need to make informed choices about their lives and thus help them to participate in the democratic life of their societies. UNESCO is also playing a leading role in media development in post-conflict countries as part of the establishment of democratic institutions.
We hope that the discussion here today and throughout the world will contribute to establishing the links between free media and poverty reduction. I am sure Jeffrey Nyarota will address this later on this morning.
As we focus our attention on the fundamental human right of the freedom of the press and freedom of expression, we should not forget that this past year has been one of the most violent for media professionals. According to global monitoring groups, scores of media professionals were killed last year in the line of duty and hundreds were detained or imprisoned. This serves to remind us again that being a journalist is increasingly a dangerous occupation. UNESCO would like today to once again call on leaders throughout the world to end the culture of impunity that affects journalists, to investigate and punish those responsible for attacking journalists and to support all the measures possible to protect journalists in order for them to continue providing us with the information we count on in our democratic societies.
On this day, UNESCO is also partnering with the Guillermo Cano Foundation to honour a journalist who has paid a heavy price for exercising this noble profession. Today in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Director-General Koichiro Matsuura is awarding the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize, on the recommendation of an independent jury, to a truly remarkable woman, Ms. May Chidiac from Lebanon. Ms. Chidiac who was brutally attacked last September in Lebanon and lost a leg and a hand, has become a national symbol of freedom of expression in this country traumatized by war.
How best to close these brief remarks than to quote her: "I cannot express to you the suffering I have endured. But maybe this country was in need of a leg to kick those bad people who do not love Lebanon and who work against it, and of a hand to lift the weights which bend the back of this country. It is the price I had to pay for so deeply loving this country and it was perhaps my destiny to take part in this great sacrifice".
Press release>>
Video of the panel discussion>>
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