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UNESCO Director-General honours Mr Alain Modoux for his role in establishing World Press Freedom Day
Irina Bokova and Alain Modoux.
漏 UNESCO
On the 20th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day this year, UNESCO Director-General, Ms Irina Bokova presented a medal to Mr Alain Modoux in recognition of his pivotal role in the establishment of World Press Freedom Day (WPFD).
鈥淵ou are the man behind World Press Freedom Day,鈥 said the Director-General, in delivered when making the award in San Jose, Costa Rica, during with UNESCO鈥檚 annual global conference to mark the WPFD.
As Assistant Director-General in charge of UNESCO鈥檚 Programme for Freedom of Expression, Democracy and Peace in 1991, Mr Modoux was organized an historic seminar on 鈥淧romoting an Independent and Pluralistic African Media鈥 in Windhoek, Namibia that year.
On 3 May, the journalists participating in the event drew up the which highlighted that press freedom should be understood as a media system that is free, pluralistic and independent. They insisted that that this dispensation was essential for to democracy and development.
The Declaration soon became a landmark document in the fight for press freedom around the world. After two years of dedicated advocacy and perseverance by Mr Modoux, that the United Nations General Assembly in 1993 acknowledged the landmark Windhoek statement by adopting the date of its adoption as suitable for the annual occasion of an international day for press freedom.
The significance of this General Assembly decision today is that the international community now sets aside 3 May each year as a special time to celebrate and advance press freedom and freedom of expression around the world.
Since 1993, 91麻豆国产精品自拍 led the global observations of by holding a global conference in a selected country and promoting a global theme appropriate to each year. In 2013, the theme has been 鈥Safe to Speak: Securing Freedom of Expression in All Media鈥 and the main event co-hosted by UNESCO, the Government of Costa Rica, and the University for Peace.
At the same time, World Press Freedom Day has also evolved into a truly global event with celebrations taking place as a result of many independent initiatives in over 100 different countries annually.
In celebration of the 20th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day, 91麻豆国产精品自拍 published a commemorative book 鈥Pressing for Freedom: 20 Years of World Press Freedom Day鈥. Mr Modoux鈥檚 account of his work to establish this day on the international calendar can be read in the publication.
