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Convened on 23 November 2020 by the IBA’s Human Rights Institute (), the session was opened with a message by the Canadian Foreign Minister François-Philippe Champagne, and participated by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister for Human Rights at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) of the United Kingdom; barrister Amal Clooney; and investigative Journalist Matthew Caruana Galizia.

In his opening remarks, Minister Champagne affirmed that the “international legal community can be a powerful ally in our efforts to protect journalists and preserve media freedom,” and said “it is critical we take actions, individually and collectively to respond to these challenges [to media freedom]; our action must be grounded in human rights and leverage the multi-lateral system.”

As co-chair of the , Minister Champagne recalled that “Since its creation at the inaugural Global Conference on Media Freedom in London last year, the Coalition has expanded its membership, coordinated diplomatic activity in the field, and spoken out on several issues of key concern; it provides us with a unique mechanism by which we can coordinate our action.” He also mentioned to the Global Media Defence Fund, “capably administered by UNESCO.”

UK Minister Lord Ahmad announced that the Media Freedom Coalition is soon to reach 42 members, and recalled its original objectives: “to shine the light on the importance on media freedom and to hold account to those that threatens that freedom.” He mentioned that “during the first ministerial meeting of the Media Freedom Coalition [held on 16 November] states noted that many threats on media freedom still exist, and the increasing trend of attacks against journalists during the Covid19 pandemic.”

“Independence of the media is as important as the independence of the legal profession” said UNESCO’s representative Guy Berger, Director for Strategies and Policies of the Communication and Information Sector. He then appealed to the legal profession worldwide to maintain and upscale their commitment to media freedom. He also announced that early next year the Global Media Defence Fund will publish a second call for partnerships to provide grants for grassroot organizations supporting journalists’ legal defence - call which will also be open to IBA’s members established as not-for-profit entities. He also recalled the ongoing dialogue on freedom of expression with judges and judicial operators that 91�鶹������Ʒ���� with its partners, including all the regional human rights courts and the International Association of Prosecutors ().

The session () was chaired by Baroness Helena Kennedy, IBAHRI Director and member of the High-Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom. The Panel’s co-chair Ms Amal Clooney presented a set of recommendations for improving the enforcement of international legal protection of journalists which now exist ‘on paper’. Distilled by the work of the Panel, these recommendations are included in a series of recently released reports recommending inter alia to: introduce a system of emergency visa for journalists to ; ; and . 

The ’s first Call for Partnerships received 110 proposals from not-for profit organizations from all regions of the world and targeting over 50 countries. Among the 44 preselected proposals,17 are for Africa and a majority from the Global South (). The Fund is also supporting the work of the . This Fund synergizes with other activities implemented by UNESCO in the field of freedom of expression, and its action contributes to the implementation of the .