TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Jakarta Declaration calls for greater press’ role for peaceful, inclusive societies
Change Size
Vice President Jusuf Kalla (center), accompanied by Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto (left) and UNESCO director general Irina Bokova (third left), among others, strikes a gong to mark the opening of the 2017 World Press Freedom Day meeting in Jakarta on May 3. (Antara/Akbar Nugroho Gumay)
P
articipants of the 2017 World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) meeting have unanimously adopted the Jakarta Declaration, which calls for a greater role of the media in advancing peaceful and inclusive societies.
“We see the importance of Agenda 2030 on Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs], particularly Goal 16 on promoting peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development. Let’s use the adopted Jakarta Declaration, preluded in the Finlandia Declaration,” said Zabrina Holmström of the Finland National Commission to Unesco on Thursday.
“We need critical minds for critical times. Stand up for your rights. There can’t be a compromise in freedom of expression,” she said.
(Read also: Press freedom critical in nation building: Minister)
Adopted in last year’s WPFD in Helsinki, Finland, Holmström said the Finlandia Declaration, which became a bridge to the Jakarta Declaration, had three building blocks, namely access to information, diversity of cultural expressions and freedom of expression.
“These are building blocks of functioning democracies and diverse independent media,” she said.
Around 1,300 participants attended the 2017 WPFD hosted by the Indonesian government, the Communications and Information Ministry, the Press Council and Unesco.
“In 2017 WPFD, we have focused on addressing SDGs, particularly achieving Goal 16 on promoting peaceful and inclusive societies, and how we can counter social media bubbles, where solutions to addressing both are reflected in our adopted Jakarta Declaration,” said Communications and Information Minister Rudiantara.
“We are also aware of the need to bring back healthy public communication and to support quality journalism to save life and the need for a shift from the current information turbulence,” he went on.
