VIENNA : Federal Ministry Republic of Austria European and International affairs organized high level conference on Safety of Journalists, Protecting media to protect democracy in Vienna Austria.
After the conference, press conference was held in which journalists from all over the world, Ministers, Ambassadors Deplomates and senior journalists participated.
Director-General UNESCO Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ghada Fathi Waly, Director-General UNOV/Executive Director, UNODC Melissa Fleming, Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, United Nations, Dmitry Muratov, Editor-in-Chief of Novaya Gazeta and Laureate of the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize were among the participants.
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Jineth Bedoya (Journalist, Author and Human Rights Advocate), UNESCO Guillermo Cano Award Winner Daryna Shevchenko (Co-founder The Fix, and CEO), The Kyiv Independent, Herman Grech Editor-in-Chief, the Times of Malta, Author of the play “They blew her up” expressed their views in conference.
In his speech on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, Owais Aslam Ali, Secretary General Pakistan Press Foundation said that the safety of journalists is an essential condition for the realisation of the universal, inalienable right to freedom of expression and of the media, as stipulated in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Human rights and democracy are only guaranteed if journalists can carry out their work freely and without fear for their safety. However, they risk their lives every day, especially in conflict situations. They are increasingly exposed to political persecution, online violence, intimidation and surveillance. This year, by 1 September, 61 journalists from 26 countries have already lost their lives because of their job, 10 of them while working to cover the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. Between 2006 and 2021, more than 1,200 journalists were killed.
