In a statement, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization said the priority of this joint work will be training police and security personnel to defend freedom of expression and protect journalists.
The partners will launch a massive online open course for police officers from around the world, he stressed.
According to UNESCO, a 2020 study involving 65 countries has found a sharp rise in press freedom violations during protests, including harassment, intimidation, attacks, arrests and even killings of reporters.
In this context, he suspected that this phenomenon is due in large part to the police’s lack of training in how to maintain order while allowing journalists to do their jobs.
The AIP is an independent association of 370,000 agents from nearly 100 nations, active or retired, without distinction of rank, creed, sex, race, language or religion.
Therefore, the multilateral body based in this capital aims to draw on the experience of the association for the training work already under way before the announcement.
According to UNESCO, she has already trained 8,500 police officers in 17 countries in Latin America, Africa and the Arab world through local associations.
“Police and security forces are key players in ensuring that journalists can do their jobs safely and that any violation of press freedom is investigated and prosecuted according to the law,” said UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay.
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