World Press Freedom Day

(Patria) - World Press Freedom Day is being celebrated today. The aim of celebrating May 3 is to raise awareness of the importance of media freedom and its fundamental principles.

The United Nations (UN) General Assembly proclaimed May 3 as World Press Freedom Day in 1993, and it is celebrated on the anniversary of the Windhoek Declaration, a statement of principles of free press drafted by a group of African journalists in 1991 in Windhoek, Namibia, with a unique vision – to protect the fundamental rights of a free press.

This declaration implies independence from political, economic, and governing structures.

From 2003 to 2022, 1,668 journalists were killed worldwide, an average of 80 per year, and Iraq and Syria have proven to be the most dangerous countries for this profession, according to a report by the association Reporters Without Borders.

Journalists covering armed conflicts worldwide are most at risk, but many have also been killed outside of armed conflicts.

In the report by Reporters Without Borders and according to their World Press Freedom Index for 2022, Bosnia and Herzegovina has regressed in media freedom.