UNESCO on Tuesday called for safety of journalists across the globe ahead of this year’s World Press Freedom Day scheduled for May 3.
The call was contained in a statement signed by Mr Oluseyi Soremekun, the National Programme Officer Communication and Information, UNESCO in Abuja.
The organisation urged countries to promote a safe and enabling environment for journalists to perform their work independently, without undue interference.
It expressed concern over the increased threat to journalists by non-state actors, adding that the precondition for press freedom was a free, independent, and pluralistic media environment.
The statement said that building a culture to support press freedom was generally a lengthy process.
It said that the gains achieved so far of a free press could also be lost when negative forces take control of leadership of a country.
“The potential for progress has become possible in many cases through changes such as in countries touched by the Arab Spring as well as in Myanmar and South Sudan.
“Decades of political regimes that were not conducive for press freedom are making way for a new environment that holds great promise,’’ the statement said.
UNESCO said that the international community was working with authorities and the citizenry in countries of the world to ensure positive developments that would translate into long-lasting freedom of expression and press freedom.
“One major development in this international cooperation on press freedom is the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, which was endorsed in 2012 by the chief executives of all component UN bodies,“ it said.
World Press Freedom day was officially proclaimed during the UN General Assembly in 1993.
