The MediaWise Trust is one of 195 civil society groups calling on the United Nations (UN) to put government accountability and independent media at the centre of a new framework for global development.
A joint statement – coordinated by ARTICLE 19 and the Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD) – says access to information and media freedom are vital elements for a future development plan. Systems that allow people to hold governments accountable are fundamental to achieving economic growth, social equality and environmental sustainability. The UN is currently working to devise a global development agenda for after 2015, the target date for the Millennium Development Goals, which will set worldwide priorities for development in the coming decades.
Full statement:
Post-2015 Agenda: Access to information and independent media are essential to development
Human development in the coming decades will depend on people’s access to information. Groundbreaking new media and technology are enabling major expansion of economic, social and political progress.
We believe that freedom of expression and access to independent media are essential to democratic and economic development. Freedom of speech and the media are means to advance human development and are ends in their own right.
We, the undersigned, therefore call on the Open Working Group to fully integrate the governance recommendations of the UN High Level Panel of Eminent Persons Report (A New Global Partnership: Eradicate Poverty and Transform Economies through Sustainable Development) into the proposed Post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals, specifically in relation to its recommendations to:
• Establish a specific goal to “ensure good governance and effective institutions”
• Include as components of this goal a clause to “ensure people enjoy freedom of speech, association, peaceful protest and access to independent media and information” and to “guarantee the public’s right to information and access to government data”
To see a list of all signatories, click here.