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In his long-waited “synthesis” report on the UN’s post-2015 development agenda, presented to the General Assembly in New York on that day, the Secretary General states that “press freedom, access to information and freedom of expression” are essential “enablers of sustainable development.”
The Secretary General’s report urged the adoption in 2015 of the 17 new Sustainable Development Goals proposed by a 70-nation General Assembly working group, which includes a commitment by all countries to ensure public access to information and the protection of “fundamental freedoms” guaranteed by UN human rights treaties. The proposed goals also include commitments to the complete eradication of extreme hunger and poverty, strong new global environmental protection measures, the elimination of deaths from preventable diseases, and the fulfillment of past pledges on gender equality and universal childhood education.
A free flow of public information and independent debate and analysis in media and civil society would also be required for the Secretary General’s proposed annual “participatory, multi-stakeholder, and, importantly, universal review” of progress towards the new goals, under the auspices of a new “high-level political forum (HLPF)” at the United Nations.
“Press freedom and access to information, freedom of expression, assembly and association are enablers of sustainable development,” the report says.
The Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD) is an international network of institutions in support of press freedom.
Source: http://gfmd.info
