Lebanese Ministry of Information
Caretaker Minister of Information, Manal Abdel Samad, opened this Friday a virtual conference on the Role of the Media in Protecting Human Rights and Promoting Transparency, organized by the Ministry of Information at Tele Liban headquarters, with the participation of head of the Parliamentary Administration and Justice Committee, MP George Adwan, Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Program in Lebanon, Celine Moyroud, Head of Communication and Information Programs at UNESCO, George Awad, representing the Director of the UNESCO Regional Office for Education in the Arab Countries Hamad Al-Hamami, and ranking dignitaries.
The Minister said an organic relationship existed between the media and human rights, “as there is no possibility of defining them without the media promoting them.”
“Similar to the freedom of expression, the right to access information is a human right. This interdependence has been further strengthened after the transformation of the media into a major industry in the age of the internet and the global expansion in the use of the latter. Based on this interconnection, we stress the importance of media freedom in Lebanon and our Arab region, which is negatively affected by conflicts, lack of integrity, lack of stability and the absence of dialogue,” she went on.
“There is a need to preserve freedom of the press and protect media workers from any pressure or threat. According to UNESCO data, the number of journalists killed in the world nearly halved in 2019, but they still face dangers and the perpetrator continues to go unpunished,” Abdel Samad noted.
“I urged the presidency of the council of ministers to instruct all ministries and departments to facilitate and accelerate the work of journalists. The Ministry of Information adopted the right to access information and drafted a media plan to spread awareness about it. We are currently conducting a series of meetings with media institutions to join hands with them, for I strongly believe in the pioneering role that the media can play in promoting the culture of transparency and eliminating corruption.”
She concluded: “We recall the thinker Charles Malek who drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to restore ‘the revolution of the firsts’ who painted the image of a beautiful Lebanon, a free and independent Lebanon, a creative, innovative and pioneering Lebanon.”
The UNDP resident representative, in turn, said: “We are fully aware that the world is under pressure in matters related to economic recovery, and this definitely requires a rethinking of governance, and ensuring that everyone has access to the same rights and opportunities. This is also the case in Lebanon.”
“Lebanon is a member of the United Nations Convention against Corruption and the Lebanese government has committed itself to implementing this law through appropriate legislation. Lebanon has taken appropriate decisions to protect human rights, also within its national legislation. I am referring here to the law on access to information in Lebanon, a country that tries to promote human rights and combat corruption. Added to that is the law passed in 2017 to combat corruption, which allows for the promotion of transparency and access to information. (…) In terms of respect for human rights, this law allows people to access information. This is certainly essential, and we are pleased with the many meetings we have held with the Ministry of Information. We believe that this ministry has a fundamental role in raising awareness through society, next to the civil society,” she explained.
The media plays a fundamental role in protecting human rights and promoting transparency, as the Minister of Information said,” Moyroud stressed.
NNA
