Right to information for sustainable development

Today, 3rd of May is to celebrate the World Press Freedom Day around the world. This international day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 1993 following a Recommendation adopted at the 26th Session of the UNESCO's General Conference in 1991.

Freedom of information is a fundamental freedom and a human right, inherently bound up with the broader right to freedom of expression. It covers the right to seek and receive information, and it complements the right to impart information which is the freedom to make information public via the right to press freedom.

The freedom of information and press freedom both contributes to the 2030 Development Agenda's goal (SDG No. 16) to: “Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels”. In this way, freedom of expression as a whole is vital to achieving SDG target 16.10: “Public access to information and fundamental freedoms”.

Journalism has a major role to play in actualising the right to information in the interests of pubic. At the same time, they may have difficulty in accessing, understanding, and subsequently using the raw data or information. In order to make full use of the right to information, journalists need press freedom.

While giving the right of freedom of press, journalists need an assurance of their physical and psychological well-being. That includes digital security, one of the most pressing issues in recent times, and it impacts directly on processes around freedom of information, press freedom, and sustainable development. 

Technological advances and the rise of citizen journalism have cemented the notion that journalism today should be understood in terms of an activity rather than a status. While not every blogger and social activist engages in journalistic activities, those who do so can often face harassment, threats, and possible imprisonment. 

More and more attention worldwide is being given to the safety of journalists and to ending impunity. The UNESCO considers the killing of journalists as the ultimate form of censorship and systematically condemns such crimes, and reports on impunity.