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World Press Freedom Day and Webinar on COVID-19 in Islamabad

Islamabad office organised a Webinar on "Press Freedom and Journalism During (Covid-19) Crisis鈥 on May 5, 2020.
The webinar on 鈥淧ress Freedom and Journalism During Crisis鈥 was held on May 5, 2020, in partnership with the European Union Delegation to Pakistan, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Embassy of Sweden in Pakistan and Media Matters for Democracy. The webinar was attended by more than 50 participants from civil society, media professionals, academia, international organizations and diplomatic missions.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as other situations of crisis, it is critical for people to be informed with facts to make well-informed decisions, to avoid patterns of paranoia, fear, and negatively stigmatizing others. Noting this, the UN Secretary-General called for:
Taking stock of the situation the webinar explored the crucial role of media in providing credible information, addressing misinformation, and the subsequent emerging challenges faced by journalists in fulfilling their tasks.
The UNESCO's Representative of Pakistan, welcomed the participants and emphasized that:
Ambassador of the European Union Delegation to Pakistan reiterated the fact that:
Mr. Asad Hashim from Al Jazeera discussed the factors impeding press freedom in Pakistan especially in light of the current health crisis. He also stressed upon the need to provide safeguards to journalists facing multifarious threats due to the corona virus. While discussing the 鈥榤isinfodemic鈥, Ms. Ramsha Jahangir from , a top English daily in Pakistan, highlighted the vital need for providing credible and fact-based information by news media to counter misinformation. Mr. Tayyab Afridi representing , a local TV, analyzed the coverage of COVID-19 related news in remote and far-flung areas. Mr. Shabbir Anwar (Pakistan Peace Collection,described various initiatives launched to gauge the perception of citizens about the corona virus and shared the lessons learnt. In his concluding remarks, Ambassador of Netherlands to Pakistan stated:
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