Daily Guardian joins UN Meeting on Media Freedom Issues

Daily Guardian has been invited to a meeting convened by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, Irene Khan, today January 23, 2024.

DG editor-in-chief Francis Allan Angelo received the invitation from Thibaut Guillet

Human Rights Officer under the Special Procedures Branch of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

According to Guillet, the meeting will take place in the context of the Special Rapporteur’s official visit to the Philippines.

The purpose of Irene Khan’s visit to the Philippines is to examine the situation of the rights to freedom of opinion and expression in the country.

“For that purpose, the Special Rapporteur (Khan) will be meeting with Government officials, civil society representatives and others. At the end of her visit, the Special Rapporteur will present her preliminary findings to the government and the general public. A full report on the visit will be presented to the Human Rights Council in Geneva.”

The meeting will a bring together a few civil society representatives and journalists to participate in an interactive, confidential and informal discussion with the Special Rapporteur.

Among others, it will provide participants with an opportunity to share information and views on:

-Good practices and challenges relating to the exercise of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, including with regard to media freedom, both in law and in practice.

-Potential recommendations to be considered by the Special Rapporteur in the context of her visit.

Ms. Irene Khan (Bangladesh), was appointed in August 2020. She is the first woman to be appointed as UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression.

She was Secretary General of Amnesty International from 2001 to 2009 and Director General of the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) from 2012 to 2019.

An internationally recognized advocate for human rights, gender equality and social justice, she is Distinguished Fellow at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva.