journalists with cameras and cell phones
Journalists covering the work of the UN Security Council await a briefing in the media stakeout area.
Photo:UN Photo/Mark Garten

Shaping a Future at Peace

By fostering access to reliable information, accountability, dialogue, and trust, press freedom and independent journalism are key to peace, economic recovery, sustainable development, and human rights.

According to UNESCO’s World Trends Report 2022–2025, press freedom has experienced its steepest decline since 2012. This decline is comparable to that seen during the most unstable periods of the 20th century – the two world wars and the Cold War.

Information manipulation, including the use of AI by malicious actors, is weakening trust and national security. At the same time, independent media face growing economic fragility.

Self-censorship has grown by more than 60%, driven by fear of reprisals, online harassment, judicial intimidation, and economic pressure.

World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) 2026 offers a critical moment to reaffirm freedom of expression and to align journalism, technology (including AI), and human rights actors around practical ways to strengthen information ecosystems for the future.

Hosted in Lusaka, Zambia, WPFD 2026 brings together press freedom advocates and digital rights communities at a time when the boundaries between journalism, technology, civic space, and human rights are increasingly intertwined.

Origins and purpose of the Day

World Press Freedom Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in December 1993, following the recommendation of UNESCO's General Conference. Since then, 3 May, the anniversary of the Declaration of Windhoek is celebrated worldwide as World Press Freedom Day.

May 3 acts as a reminder to governments of the need to respect their commitment to press freedom. It is also a day of reflection among media professionals about issues of press freedom and professional ethics. It is an opportunity to:

  • celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom;
  • assess the state of press freedom throughout the world;
  • defend the media from attacks on their independence;
  • and pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the line of duty.

2026 Global Conference

Shaping a Future at Peace

Date: 5 May 2026

Place: Lusaka, Zambia

 

Safety of Journalists

female reporter with cameraman

Find out what the United Nations is doing on the safety of journalists.

hands holding book and journalist with gas mask

As the United Nations agency with a specific mandate to promote “the free flow of ideas by word and image”, UNESCO works to foster free, independent and pluralistic media in print, broadcast and online. Media development in this mode enhances freedom of expression, and it contributes to peace, sustainability, poverty eradication and human rights

Black and white photo of Guillermo Cano Isaza at his typewriter.

Created in 1997, the annual Prize honours a person, organization or institution that has made an outstanding contribution to the defence and/or promotion of press freedom anywhere in the world, especially when achieved in the face of danger. The Prize is named in honour of Guillermo Cano Isaza, a Colombian journalist who was assassinated in front of the offices of his newspaper El Espectador in Bogotá, Colombia in1986. 

 

an abstract illustration of people engaged in an event

International days and weeks are occasions to educate the public on issues of concern, to mobilize political will and resources to address global problems, and to celebrate and reinforce achievements of humanity. The existence of international days predates the establishment of the United Nations, but the UN has embraced them as a powerful advocacy tool. We also mark other UN observances.