UN Development Programme Chair: Jade Zeng Novice Committee Topic A: Freedom of Media Introduction Since 1966, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have been partnering with people at all levels of society in order to build nations that can withstand crisis, and drive and sustain the kind of growth that improves the quality of life for everyone. UNDP is heavily engaged in linking and coordinating global and national effort to reach the Millennium Development Goals. MDG is a set of eight goals set to be accomplished by 2015 including reducing poverty by half. UNDP focus on assisting developing countries to find solutions in the following fields: poverty reduction and achievement of the MDGs, democratic governance, crisis prevention and recovery, and environment and energy for sustainable development. UNDP also administers the UN Capital Development Fund that help developing countries grow their economies by supplementing existing sources of capital assistance by means of grants and loans. On the ground in more than 170 countries and territories, UNDP offer the global perspective and local insight to help empower lives and build resilient nations. In 2013, UNDP succeeded in creating 6.47 million jobs in 109 countries with half delicate to woman. What is Freedom of Media? Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of communication and expression through mediums including various electronic media and published materials. While such freedom mostly implies the absence of interference from an overreaching state, its preservation may be sought through constitutional or other legal protections. Media freedom and access to information feed into the wider development objective of empowering people.
Empowerment is a multi-dimensional social and political process that helps people gain control over their lives. This can only be achieved through access to accurate, fair and unbiased information, representing a plurality of opinions, and the means to actively communicate vertically and horizontally, thereby participating in the active life of the community. However, in order to make freedom of expression a reality, there must be: 1. A legal and regulatory environment that allows for an open and pluralistic media sector to emerge; 2. A political will to support the sector and rule of law to protect it; 3. Laws ensuring access to information, especially information in the public domain; and 4. The necessary media literacy skills among news consumers to critically analyze and synthesize the information they receive to use it in their daily lives and to hold the media accountable for its actions. The United Nations' 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference, and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers However, according to Freedom House s Freedom of the Press index, only 14 percent of the world's citizens live in countries that enjoy a free press. In the rest of the world, governments as well as non-state actors control the viewpoints that reach citizens and brutally repress independent voices who aim to promote accountability, good governance, and economic development. Case Study China: China s media environment remained one of the world s most restrictive in 2012. Constraints on print media were especially tight in advance of a sensitive leadership transition in November, and several journalists were dismissed or demoted for violating censorship discipline.
Internet users who disseminated information deemed undesirable by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continued to face punishment, with dozens of cases of harassment, detention, or imprisonment documented during the year. Meanwhile, conditions in Tibetan areas and for foreign journalists deteriorated. The promotion of a hard-liner formerly responsible for the regime s system of information controls to the top party leadership body, combined with measures to reinforce Internet censorship and surveillance toward the end of the year, indicated the new CCP hierarchy s commitment to retaining a tight grip on the information landscape. Nevertheless, with more people gaining access to microblogs and other online tools, Chinese citizens ability to share and access uncensored information, particularly about breaking news, continued to grow. Several public outcries and online campaigns in 2012 were credited with driving the news agenda including on the sensitive topic of elite politics or forcing isolated government concessions. In addition, fewer cases of violence against professional journalists and high-profile online activists were reported compared with 2011, and no journalists were killed. The authorities responded to the increasing challenge of controlling information with prolonged silence about important news events, intrusive propaganda drives, and new regulatory restrictions on entertainment programming, social media, and online videos. Article 35 of the constitution guarantees freedoms of speech, assembly, association, and publication, but such rights are subordinated to the discretion of the CCP and its status as the ruling power. In addition, the constitution cannot, in most cases, be invoked in court as a legal basis for asserting individual rights. Judges are appointed by the CCP and follow its directives, particularly in politically sensitive cases. There is no press law that governs the protection of journalists or the punishment of their attackers. Instead, vague provisions in the penal code and state secrets legislation are routinely used to imprison Chinese citizens for the peaceful expression of views that the CCP considers objectionable. Criminal defamation provisions are also occasionally used to similar effect. Amendments to the Criminal Procedure Law passed in March 2012 permit suspects accused of endangering state security a charge that is often employed to punish nonviolent activism and political expression to be detained for up to six months in an unofficial location, prompting concerns that the rule effectively legalizes enforced disappearances. Since open-government regulations took effect in 2008, many agencies have become more forthcoming in publishing official documents, but courts have largely hesitated to enforce information requests,
and government bodies routinely withhold information, even regarding matters of vital public concern. Journalists and other media workers are required to hold government-issued press cards in order to be considered legitimate. Those who violate content restrictions risk having their press card renewals delayed or rejected, being blacklisted outright, or facing criminal charges. China is home to the largest number of internet users in the world, with the figure surpassing 560 million, or approximately 42 percent of the population, in 2012. Over 400 million accounts had been opened in domestic microblogging services by the end of the year, though the number of regularly active users is smaller, estimated to range in the tens of millions. The prevalence of microblogs, online circumvention tools, and overseas Chinese news outlets has grown in recent years, dramatically expanding Chinese citizens ability to access and share information about events occurring in different parts of the country and even within the top echelons of the CCP. A growing number of Chinese use proxy servers to evade internet restrictions and receive illegal satellite transmissions. Although Twitter remains blocked in China and domestic microblogging services engage in government-directed censorship, the latter have rapidly grown in influence as a source of news and an outlet for public opinion, in part because the rapid sharing of information among microblog users sometimes outpaces censors deletions. The role of online sources in the media landscape has become especially important for breaking news. A 2012 study of Chinese public opinion and crisis management reported that online sources accounted for nearly 65 percent of breaking news reports in 2011, versus just over 30 percent for traditional media. Past UN Actions The UN General Assembly designated 3 May as World Press Freedom Day in 1993. This year s theme was, Safe to Speak: Securing Freedom of Expression in All Media, seeking to rally global action to protect the safety of all journalists worldwide and to break the vicious circle of impunity for crimes committed against them. The Plan of Action was also created in aims to creating a free and safe environment for journalists and media workers, both in conflict and nonconflict situations, with a view to strengthening peace, democracy and development worldwide.
Problems that should be addressed 1. According to UNESCO, more than 600 journalists have been killed in the past decade, many while reporting in non-conflict situations. Impunity is also widespread as nine out of 10 cases of killings of journalists go unpunished. Should live be scarified for the sake of these reports? 2. What are the effects of freedom of press or media on our society and in the world? 3. What are the main countries having media-control issue? How should the UNDP respond to it? 4. What action should be taken to ensure the safety of journalists reporting at the front line? 5. There are still some countries having media-control. How to avoid the conflict with those countries but solve the issue? How should the UNDP invoke the freedom of media in those countries?