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Declarations
on Promoting Independent and Pluralistic Media
UNESCO
May 03, 1991
http://www.unesco.org/webworld/com_media/communication_democracy/windhoek.htm
Declaration
of Windhoek
3 May 1991
Endorsed by the General Conference at its twenty-sixth session -
1991
We
the participants in the United Nations/ United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization Seminar on Promoting an Independent
and Pluralistic African Press, held in Windhoek, Namibia, from 29
April to 3 May 1991, Recalling the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights,
Recalling General Assembly resolution 59(I) of 14 December
1946 stating that freedom of information is a fundamental human
right, and General Assembly resolution 45/76 A of 11 December 1990
on information in the service of humanity,
Recalling
resolution 25C/104 of the General Conference of UNESCO of 1989 in
which the main focus is the promotion of "the free flow of
ideas by word and image at international as well as national levels",
Noting with
appreciation the statements made by the United Nations Under-SecretaryGeneral
for Public Information and the Assistant Director-General for Communication,
Information and Informatics of UNESCO at the opening of the Seminar,
Expressing
our sincere appreciation to the United Nations and UNESCO for
organizing the Seminar,
Expressing
also our sincere appreciation to all the intergovernmental,
governmental and nongovernmental bodies and organizations,
in particular the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which
contributed to the United Nations/UNESCO effort to organize the
Seminar,
Expressing
our gratitude to the Government and people of the Republic of Namibia
for their kind hospitality which facilitated the success of the
Seminar,
Declare that:
1. Consistent
with article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the
establishment, maintenance and fostering of an independent, pluralistic
and free press is essential to the development and maintenance of
democracy in a nation, and for economic development.
2. By an independent press, we mean a press independent from governmental,
political or economic control or from control of materials and infrastructure
essential for the production and dissemination of newspapers, magazines
and periodicals.
3. By a pluralistic
press, we mean the end of monopolies of any kind and the existence
of the greatest possible number of newspapers, magazines and periodicals
reflecting the widest possible range of opinion within the community.
4. The welcome
changes that an increasing number of African States are now undergoing
towards multiparty democracies provide the climate in which
an independent and pluralistic press can emerge.
5. The worldwide
trend towards democracy and freedom of information and expression
is a fundamental contribution to the fulfilment of human aspirations.
6. In Africa
today, despite the positive developments in some countries, in many
countries journalists, editors and publishers are victims of repression-they
are murdered, arrested, detained and censored, and are restricted
by economic and political pressures such as restrictions on newsprint,
licensing systems which restrict the opportunity to publish, visa
restrictions which prevent the free movement of journalists, restrictions
on the exchange of news and information, and limitations on the
circulation of newspapers within countries and across national borders.
In some countries, oneparty States control the totality of
information.
7. Today, at
least 17 journalists, editors or publishers are in African prisons,
and 48 African journalists were killed in the exercise of their
profession between 1969 and 1990.
8. The General
Assembly of the United Nations should include in the agenda of its
next session an item on the declaration of censorship as a grave
violation of human rights falling within the purview of the Commission
on Human Rights.
9. African States
should be encouraged to provide constitutional guarantees of freedom
of the press and freedom of association.
10. To encourage
and consolidate the positive changes taking place in Africa, and
to counter the negative ones, the international community-specifically,
international organizations (governmental as well as nongovernmental),
development agencies and professional associations-should as a matter
of priority direct funding support towards the development and establishment
of nongovernmental newspapers, magazines and periodicals that
reflect the society as a whole and the different points of view
within the communities they serve.
11. All funding
should aim to encourage pluralism as well as independence. As a
consequence, the public media should be funded only where authorities
guarantee a constitutional and effective freedom of information
and expression and the independence of the press.
12. To assist
in the preservation of the freedoms enumerated above, the establishment
of truly independent, representative associations, syndicates or
trade unions of journalists, and associations of editors and publishers,
is a matter of priority in all the countries of Africa where such
bodies do not now exist.
13. The national
media and labour relations laws of African countries should be drafted
in such a way as to ensure that such representative associations
can exist and fulfil their important tasks in defence of press freedom.
14. As a sign
of good faith, African Governments that have jailed journalists
for their professional activities should free them immediately.
Journalists who have had to leave their countries should be free
to return to resume their professional activities.
15. Cooperation
between publishers within Africa, and between publishers of the
North and South (for example through the principle of twinning),
should be encouraged and supported.
l6. As a matter
of urgency, the United Nations and UNESCO, and particularly the
International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC),
should initiate detailed research, in cooperation with governmental
(especially UNDP) and nongovernmental donor agencies, relevant
nongovernmental organizations and professional associations,
into the following specific areas:
(i) identification
of economic barriers to the establishment of news media outlets,
including restrictive import duties, tariffs and quotas for such
things as newsprint, printing equipment, and typesetting and word
processing machinery, and taxes on the sale of newspapers, as
a prelude to their removal;
(ii) training
of journalists and managers and the availability of professional
training institutions and courses;
(iii) legal
barriers to the recognition and effective operation of trade unions
or associations of journalists, editors and publishers;
(iv) a register
of available funding from development and other agencies, the
conditions attaching to the release of such funds, and the methods
of applying for them;
(v) the state
of press freedom, country by country, in Africa.
17. In view
of the importance of radio and television in the field of news and
information, the United Nations and UNESCO are invited to recommend
to the General Assembly and the General Conference the convening
of a similar seminar of journalists and managers of radio and television
services in Africa, to explore the possibility of applying similar
concepts of independence and pluralism to those media.
18. The international
community should contribute to the achievement and implementation
of the initiatives and projects set out in the annex to this Declaration.
19. This Declaration
should be presented by the SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations
to the United Nations General Assembly, and by the DirectorGeneral
of UNESCO to the General Conference of UNESCO.
ANNEX
Initiatives
and Projects Identified in the Seminar
I. Development of cooperation between private African newspapers:
- to aid them
in the mutual exchange of their publications;
- to aid them
in the exchange of information;
- to aid them
in sharing their experience by the exchange of journalists;
- to organize
on their behalf training courses and study trips for their journalists,
managers and technical personnel.
II. Creation
of separate, independent national unions for publishers, news editors
and journalists.
III. Creation
of regional unions for publishers, editors and independent journalists
IV. Development
and promotion of nongovernmental regulations and codes of ethics
in each country in order to defend more effectively the profession
and ensure its credibility.
V. Financing
of a study on the readership of independent newspapers in order
to set up groups of advertising agents.
Vl. Financing
of a feasibility study for the establishment of an independent press
aid foundation and research into identifying capital funds for the
foundation.
VII. Financing
of a feasibility study for the creation of a central board for the
purchase of newsprint and the establishment of such a board.
VIII. Support
and creation of regional African press enterprises
IX. Aid with
a view to establishing structures to monitor attacks on freedom
of the press and the independence of journalists following the example
of the West African Journalists' Association.
X. Creation
of a data bank for the independent African press for the documentation
of news items essential to newspapers.
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