Namibia will host the 2021 edition of the annual World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) Conference scheduled to hold May 1 – 3, 2021. The commemoration of the event will coincide with the 30th anniversary of the Windhoek Declaration for the Development of a Free, Independent and Pluralistic Press. It will be celebrated in conjunction with WPFD in Windhoek, the Namibian capital.
Namibia and UNESCO hosted a kick-off event for the handover of the baton from The Netherlands, the 2020 host country of the Global Conference, ahead of the 2021 World Press Freedom Day.
The handover and kick-off ceremony which was held at the Government communication Centre in Windhoek on October 8, 2020, brought together JennellyMatundu, Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation; Sen PANG, UN Resident Coordinator to Namibia and other representatives from the government, the media and Namibian civil society.
UNESCO Deputy Director-General, Xing Qu, who also doubles as the interim Assistant-Director-General for Communication and Information, opened the handover ceremony from UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. He expressed gratitude to The Netherlands for their preparation of the joint celebration of WPFD and the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, which will take place on December 9 and 10, 2020 in an innovative digital format due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Expressing his appreciation to the government of Namibia, Xing Qu said “I welcome Namibia’s commitment to host the Global Conference of the World Press Freedom Day as part of a longer-term process to promote press freedom and to organize an event that once again may leave behind a legacy and inspire the next generations for strong initiatives in this area. A pivotal moment of every WPFD celebration.”
While he handing over the baton, Hans Wesseling, Ambassador of the Netherlands to UNESCO said “World Press Freedom Day is coming home,” promising that The Netherlands would be pleased to share the lessons learned from holding this year’s global event on a digital platform and to support the 2021 WPFD.
Ambassador AlbertusAochamub, Permanent Delegate of Namibia to UNESCO, expressed Namibia’s delight in taking over the baton, pointing out that the WPFD event is not a once-off activity and that press freedom is an issue that people should engage with continuously.
Ambassador Aochamub encouraged governments, civil societies and media practitioners to form a partnership to ensure that press freedom is protected and defended and expressed his sincere hope that “the world remains free and free for all”.
Adding his voice, Minister PeyaMushelenga from the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology said: “We will celebrate this significant and historic occasion appropriately, under the new normal. Namibia stands ready to host this auspicious event.”
DjaffarMoussa-Elkadhum, the Head of Office and UNESCO Representative to Namibia noted that significant steps had already been made in the preparation of WPFD 2021, adding: “Namibia is opening again its arms to welcome media professionals and journalists from around the world, not only from Africa, to celebrate in Windhoek the World Press Freedom Day.”
Frank Steffen, Chairperson of the Editors’ Forum of Namibia, who gave the vote of thanks at the close of the end of the handover and kick-off ceremony noted: “Freedom and safety of the media it is not something that can be granted only on a piece of paper […], it is something we need to live up to, something that we need to nurture and protect, to keep and preserve as valued and unique human right as it is.”
Following a recommendation adopted at the 26th session of UNESCO’s General Conference in 1991, the UN General Assembly in 1993 proclaimed May 3 of every year as World Press Freedom Day. It is set aside to celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom; to evaluate press freedom around the world; to defend the media from attacks on their independence; and to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the exercise of their profession.
