• Palestinian journalists covering the Gaza conflict have been named as laureates of the 2024 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize, following the recommendation of an international jury of media professionals.

• The ongoing conflict in Gaza is having grave consequences for journalists. 

• Since October 7, 2023, UNESCO has condemned and deplored the deaths of 26 journalists and media workers in the line of work, based upon information from its international NGO partners.

• UNESCO is supporting journalists reporting from conflict and crisis zones. 

• It is distributing essential supplies to journalists in Gaza, and has established safe working spaces and provided emergency grants for journalists in Ukraine and Sudan. 

• UNESCO is also giving protective equipment and training to journalists in Haiti, and supporting independent media in Afghanistan.

• More broadly, UNESCO promotes the safety of journalists through global awareness-raising, training and by coordinating the implementation of the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity.

UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize 

• Created in 1997, the annual UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize honours an outstanding contribution to the defence and/or promotion of press freedom anywhere in the world, especially when this has been achieved in the face of danger. 

• It is the only such prize awarded to journalists within the UN System.  

• It is named in honour of Guillermo Cano Isaza, the Colombian journalist who was assassinated in front of the offices of his newspaper El Espectador in Bogota, Colombia, on December 17, 1986.

• It is funded by the Guillermo Cano Isaza Foundation (Colombia), the Helsingin Sanomat Foundation (Finland), the Namibia Media Trust, Democracy & Media Foundation Stichting Democratie & Media (The Netherlands), and the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

• The Prize is formally conferred by UNESCO on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day (May 3).

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