The Executive Board

The Executive Board ensures the overall management of UNESCO. It prepares the work of the General Conference and sees that its decisions are properly carried out. The functions and responsibilities of the Executive Board are derived primarily from the Constitution and from rules or directives laid down by the General Conference. Every two years the General Conference assigns specific tasks to the Board. Other functions stem from agreements concluded between UNESCO and the United Nations, the specialized UN agencies and other intergovernmental organizations. The Executive Board’s fifty-eight members are elected by the General Conference. The choice of these representatives is largely a matter of the diversity of the cultures they represent, as well as their geographic origin. Skillful negotiations may be needed before a balance is reached among the different regions of the world in a way that will reflect the universality of the Organization. The Executive Board meets twice a year.

II. Press freedom and freedom of expression in Mass Media

Introduction

As the United Nations agency with a specific mandate to promote “the free flow of ideas by word and image”, UNESCO works to foster free, independent and pluralistic media in print, broadcast and online. Media development in this mode enhances freedom of expression, and it contributes to peace, sustainability, poverty eradication and human rights.

This foundation is why UNESCO today promotes policies for press freedom and the safety of journalists, and why they support independent journalism based on professional ethics and self-regulatory principles. For UNESCO, pluralistic and diverse media provides information options so that the public can make good choices. This is why today UNESCO also help to build community media in particular, and foster gender equity in the media. In order to empower individuals as informed producers and consumers of information, UNESCO has initiatives in media and information literacy and in journalism education. Specific media projects that align with their vision can secure grants from International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC), which also promotes knowledge-driven media development. UNESCO’s work in all these areas is part of our support for freedom of expression as an inalienable human right set down in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.