The new Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) will promote media freedom at an international conference at The University of Queensland, on her first official visit to Australia.
Mrs Irina Bokova will give a keynote speech at the UNESCO World Press Freedom Day 2010 conference, hosted by UQ, on May 2-3.
With the conference theme being Freedom of Information: the Right to Know, Mrs Bokova said that Freedom of Information (FOI) "is a fundamental human right that UNESCO is specifically mandated to promote”.
"The meeting planned for the Day will stimulate high-level discussions among worldwide experts on the topic," she said.
"This will thereby contribute to advancing FOI through the sharing of knowledge and experiences on key issues pertaining to the adoption, implementation and usage of FOI legislation, among other matters of relevance."
UQ Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Paul Greenfield, said the University was delighted by Mrs Bokova’s decision to make the conference a focus of her first official visit to Australia.
“Media freedom in all parts of the globe is intrinsic to a flow of factual information, which is essential if we are to identify and address the world’s problems,” Professor Greenfield said.
“UNESCO’s mandate to defend press freedom aligns with UQ’s concern for academic freedom and our commitment to tackle local, regional and global challenges through learning and research.”
Mrs Bokova is the first woman to head UNESCO. As a former Bulgarian diplomat and Member of Parliament she is also the first UNESCO chief from Eastern Europe.
The UQ-hosted UNESCO World Press Freedom Day conference will be the first such event in the Pacific, and will be a feature of the University’s 2010 Centenary celebrations.
Conference details and registration: www.wpfd2010.org
Media: Marsali Mackinnon, World Press Freedom Day Conference Secretariat, +61 7 334 63092, m.mackinnon@uq.edu.au
