User:John Cummings/UNESCOsuggestion

On behalf of UNESCO’s Communication and Information Sector, we would like to suggest the following additions to the page on UNESCO to provide more complete information on our programmes and activities. We have split each suggestion into the section heading, the existing text, the suggested text with new references added, a list of the new references and the reason for adding the new text in.

Many thanks.

History[edit]

Existing text[edit]

In the field of communication, the free flow of information has been a priority for UNESCO from its beginnings. In the years immediately following World War II, efforts were concentrated on reconstruction and on the identification of needs for means of mass communication around the world. UNESCO started organizing training and education for journalists in the 1950s.^[1] In response to calls for a "New World Information and Communication Order" in the late 1970s, UNESCO established the International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems,^[2] which produced the 1980 MacBride report (named after the Chair of the Commission, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Seán MacBride).^[3] Following the MacBride report, UNESCO introduced the Information Society for All^[4] programme and Toward Knowledge Societies^[5] programme in the lead up to the World Summit on the Information Society in 2003 (Geneva) and 2005 (Tunis).

New version[edit]

In the field of communication, the "free flow of ideas by word and image" has been in UNESCO's constitution from its beginnings, following the experience of the Second World War when control of information was a factor in indoctrinating populations for aggression.^[6] In the years immediately following World War II, efforts were concentrated on reconstruction and on the identification of needs for means of mass communication around the world. UNESCO started organizing training and education for journalists in the 1950s.^[7] In response to calls for a "New World Information and Communication Order" in the late 1970s, UNESCO established the International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems,^[8] which produced the 1980 MacBride report (named after the Chair of the Commission, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Seán MacBride).^[9] The same year, UNESCO created the International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC), a multilateral forum designed to promote media development in developing countries.^[10]^[11] In 1991, UNESCO's General Conference endorsed the Windhoek Declaration on media independence and pluralism, which led the UN General Assembly to declare the date of its adoption, 3 May, as World Press Freedom Day.^[12] Since 1997, UNESCO has awarded the UNESCO / Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize every 3 May. In the lead up to the World Summit on the Information Society in 2003 (Geneva) and 2005 (Tunis), UNESCO introduced the Information for All Programme.

Additional references[edit]

http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002269/226924e.pdf#page=6

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/intergovernmental-programmes/ipdc/homepage/

http://en.unesco.org/world-press-freedom-day-2016

Reason[edit]

A reference to the UNESCO Constitution and additional information related to developments since 1980 have been suggested. Several of these are linked to existing Wikipedia pages, but not currently included on the UNESCO page.

International Days observed at UNESCO[edit]

New text[edit]

2 November International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists^[13]

Additional References[edit]

http://en.unesco.org/day/endimpunity

Reason[edit]

Not currently included in UNESCO's list of International Days

Activities[edit]

Old Text[edit]

Encouraging the "free flow of ideas by images and words" by:
- Promoting freedom of expression, freedom of the press and freedom of information legislation, through the International Programme for the Development of Communication and the Communication and Information Programme
- Promoting universal access to Information and Communications Technology, through the Information for All Programme
- Promoting pluralism and cultural diversity in the media

New text[edit]

Encouraging the "free flow of ideas by images and words" by:
- Promoting freedom of expression, including freedom of the press and freedom of information legislation, through the Division of Freedom of Expression and Media Development,^[14] including the International Programme for the Development of Communication^[15]
- Promoting the safety of journalists and combatting impunity for those who attack them,^[16] through coordination of the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity^[17]
- Promoting universal access to and preservation of information and open solutions for sustainable development through the Knowledge Societies Division,^[18] including the Memory of the World Programme^[19] and Information for All Programme^[20]
- Promoting pluralism, gender equality and cultural diversity in the media
- Promoting Internet universality and its principles, that the Internet should be (I) human Rights-based, (ii) Open, (iii) Accessible to all, and (iv) nurtured by Multi-stakeholder participation (summarized as the acronym R.O.A.M.)^[21]
- Generating knowledge through publications such as World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development,^[22] the UNESCO Series on Internet Freedom,^[23] and the Media Development Indicators,^[24] as well as other indicator-based studies.