Human Rights

© Chris Stowers, Panos

Human rights are the cornerstone of a democracy in which every person counts, and every voice is heard. The Netherlands strives to protect and promote human rights across the world. The Netherlands and Malaysia work together to improve respect for human rights for all.

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World Press Freedom Virtual Forum

One of the Human Rights themes the embassy focusses on is Freedom of Expression. In commemoration of World Press Freedom Day, the embassy in collaboration with the United Nations and Centre for Independent Journalism organised a virtual forum on Press Freedom.

In 2022 the forum themed ‘Journalism under digital siege’, which encouraged the government to guarantee freedom of expression and access to information as mentioned in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Covenant on Civil Liberties.

The World Press Freedom Day 2022 conference in Malaysia

Karima El Korri, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, and Singapore, Mastura Ahmad Mustafa Deputy Secretary General Ministry of Communications and Multimedia, H.E. Ambassador Aart Jacobi and Wathslah Naidu Executive Director Centre for Independent Journalism.

The digital transformation has had multifaceted impact on journalism, from facilitating mass and targeted surveillance of journalists to jeopardizing the economic viability of news media to reshaping the relationship with audience. It has challenged the media to reinvent its operations and to contend with the decrease in public trust.

The World Press Freedom Day 2022 conference in Malaysia provided an opportunity to discuss these complex challenges and to also highlight the ways in which the media have adapted to the new reality.

The Forum enabled to put into action the commitments made by all 193 UNESCO Member States through the Windhoek +30 Declaration, which recognizes free, independent, professional and pluralistic media as the prerequisite to guaranteeing information as a public good for the whole of humanity. The Declaration also addresses the pressing issues regarding media viability, transparency of digital platforms, and media and information literacy.

The forum is recorded and is available for playback on YouTube.