From October 23-24, the Media Freedom Coalition (MFC) convened the largest gathering of member countries and stakeholders for over three years to discuss the Coalitions plans and direction for the coming years.
Over 50 stakeholders – with around half travelling from member country ministries from four continents – gathered in Vienna for an MFC workshop over one-and-a-half days. The workshop took place alongside other events in Vienna in the same week, including conferences organised by the OSCE and International Press Institute.
Alongside member country representatives, the workshop engaged the MFC’s Consultative Network of civil society organizations, the High Level Panel of Legal Experts, representatives of UNESCO, which administers the Global Media Defence Fund, and the MFC Secretariat.
The meeting, which was organized in cooperation with UNESCO and the MFC’s Consultative Network, aimed to build on the recently completed independent evaluation of the MFC which laid out various recommendations for the MFC to consider.
The first day was focussed on interactive discussion of the current media freedom landscape and how the MFC can help address the many challenges that journalists and media organisations face around the world.
Katja Pehrman, Ambassador for Human Rights of MFC co-chair Finland, said: “The MFC Workshop brought several countries and important stakeholders together for meaningful discussions, learning opportunities and valuable connections. Supporting and protecting independent media as well as safety of journalists has never been more important – we all need to work together to safeguard media freedom.
“Finland advocates for media freedom as part of our foreign and security policy. As our Foreign Minister has underlined, there is no security without media freedom.”
The strategic discussions on the first day were complemented by the second day, which included expert briefings on emerging threats to journalists and the importance of media freedom among today’s leading policy priorities.
Luisa Isaza Ibarra of FLIP, the Consultative Network co-chair, said, “When media freedom around the world is at critical lows, public commitments to work for the press are key. In that sense, we value the efforts of all MFC stakeholders to gather in Vienna and look forward to continuing dialogue and joint action to strengthen media freedom globally.”
“Reuniting in person with the MFC’s community of stakeholders made for an especially productive exchange. The workshop was a valuable opportunity to reconnect, share perspectives, and reaffirm our coordinated commitment to protecting and advancing press freedom and safety of journalists globally,” said Macarena Rivera from UNESCO.
The MFC Secretariat is now gathering the many ideas and insights from the workshop and will work with the MFC’s leadership and stakeholders to prioritise actions and support strategic planning for the years ahead.
