LAHORE: Along with the rest of the world, Pakistan is also celebrating World Press Freedom Day today in a bid to stand up for freedom of the press and journalists around the world.
Pakistan has a vibrant electronic and press media as well as journalists who have contributed a lot to highlight important issues. Every year on May 3, World Press Freedom is celebrated across the world and in Pakistan too, rallies and seminars are conducted to highlight the importance of freedom of the press. Journalists who lay down their lives in the course of their duty are also paid tribute on this day. Over 100 national celebrations take place each year to commemorate this day
In Pakistan, the situation of press freedom is quite grim since journalists operate under threat and often get killed while doing their duty.
UNESCO leads the worldwide celebration by identifying the global thematic and organizing the main event in different parts of the world every year. The international day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 1993 following a recommendation adopted at the 26th Session of UNESCO’s general conference in 1991.
In 2016, World Press Freedom Day coincided with three important milestones the 250th anniversary of the world’s first freedom of information law, covering both modern-day Sweden and Finland. The year 2016 was also the first year of the 15 year life-cycle of the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
