As Director-General of UNESCO, I received this morning a letter from the Government of Nicaragua announcing its withdrawal from the Organization in response to the awarding yesterday of the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize to the Nicaraguan newspaper La Prensa - El Diario de los Nicaragüenses by an independent international jury.
explains Audrey AzoulayDirector-General of UNESCO
I regret this decision, which will deprive the people of Nicaragua of the benefits of cooperation, particularly in the fields of education and culture. UNESCO is fully within its mandate when it defends freedom of expression and press freedom around the world.
Audrey AzoulayDirector-General of UNESCO
UNESCO is indeed mandated to defend freedom of expression and press freedom. It does so notably through a prize established by its Member States in 1997: the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize, which each year honors a person, organization, or institution on the recommendation of an independent professional jury.
This year, the prize was awarded to a historic media outlet from Nicaragua, La Prensa - El Diario de los Nicaragüenses (The Newspaper of the Nicaraguans), founded in 1926.
Since 2021, following the imprisonment and expulsion of its leaders from the country as well as the confiscation of its assets, La Prensa has continued to inform the Nicaraguan population online, with most of its team in exile and operating from Costa Rica, Spain, Mexico, Germany, and the United States.
The Nicaraguan authorities justified their decision by denouncing the award as the "diabolical expression of a traitorous anti-patriotic sentiment" of La Prensa, which they accuse of promoting "military and political interventions by the United States in Nicaragua."
About UNESCO
With 194 Member States, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization contributes to peace and security by leading multilateral cooperation on education, science, culture, communication and information. Headquartered in Paris, UNESCO has offices in 54 countries and employs over 2300 people. UNESCO oversees more than 2000 World Heritage sites, Biosphere Reserves and Global Geoparks; networks of Creative, Learning, Inclusive and Sustainable Cities; and over 13 000 associated schools, university chairs, training and research institutions. Its Director-General is Audrey Azoulay.
"Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed" - UNESCO Constitution, 1945.
