International Programme for the Development of Communication
On December 10, 1948, Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted and proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly as Resolution 217 A (III).
Although Britain rejoined UNESCO in 1997, the global media owners' opposition towards the NWICO policy (which collapsed thereafter) highlights their commercial stronghold in the international news market.
[6] More specifically, SDG 16.10 aims to: “Ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms, in accordance with national legislation and international agreements”.
[6] The IPDC Council comprises 39 Member State delegates elected every two years from the UNESCO General Conference, and submits to it a report on its activities.
It includes a mix of international, regional and local prevention mechanisms intended to protect journalist, raise awareness on the violence they might face and promote freedom of expression.
[9][8] The IPDC's 2016 Report is summarized in the "Time to break the cycle of violence against journalists" publication which highlights key findings, provides analysis of the killings, and of Member States responses.
State responses are categorized as: i) no information received from the relevant State on the judicial enquiry's status; ii) the case, subject to specific official information being provided, is ongoing or unresolved; or iii) the case is resolved through conviction, the death of a suspect, or a judicial decision that the death was not related to journalistic practice.
[13] These mechanisms include capacity building, legislative reforms, monitoring, training, and the provision by media companies of protective equipment.
The Model Curricula is an IPDC publication launched in 2007 at the request of Member States at the first World Journalism Education Congress (WJEC-1) convened in Singapore.
It provides frameworks for specialized syllabi in order to set standards based on good practice internationally, as a resource on which stakeholders around the world can draw to improve the quality of journalism education in their countries.
[21] In a 2013 assessment[22] of the impact of the MDIs, outcomes were identified based on interviews with UNESCO HQ and Field Staff and over a dozen media development experts.
According to UNESCO's website, its purpose is to "pinpoint significant matters that show, or impact upon, the safety of journalists and the issue of impunity".
[24] These indicators aims on mapping the key features that can help assess safety of journalists, and determining whether adequate follow-up is given to crimes committed against them.
In Palestine, IPDC supported risk assessment and safety training among independent Gazan journalists, undertaken by the Ma’an Network.
[28] The research process was envisioned to include consultations at a range of global forums and a written questionnaire sent to key actors, but also a series of publications on important Internet Freedom related issues as encryption, hate speech online, privacy, digital safety and journalism sources.
