Paris, 23 December-UNESCO has condemned the killing of 59 media workers in 2020, among them four women. With 22 killings each, the Latin America and the Caribbean Region and the Asia and the Pacific Region registered the highest number of fatalities in the profession, followed by the Arab States Region with nine, and Africa with six. Overall, 2020 saw one of the lowest yearly tolls recorded by UNESCO over the past decade, during which 888 journalists and media workers' paid the ultimate price for informing the public. In 2019, UNESCO condemned the killing of 57 journalists, 99 in 2018
In 2020, we witnessed in a possibly unprecedented way, the relevance of journalism to our democracies and to the protection of human rights. However, the pandemic was also a 'perfect storm' affecting press freedom worldwide. At the dawn of a new year, I call on the world to stand up for information as a public good. Protecting journalism is protecting the truth.
Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO
The 2020 UNESCO Director-General's Report on the Safety of Journalists and the Danger Impunity, published on the occasion of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists (2 November), provides insight into the patterns of killings of journalists over the past two years (2018-2019). On average over the past decade, one journalist was killed every four days. The Report also shows that impunity for crimes against journalists continues to prevail, despite a slight improvement in 2020 (87% compared to 88 % in 2019). The launch of the Director-General's Report was accompanied by a high-impact global awareness-raising campaign titled "Protect Journalists. Protect the Truth".
