Actions taken:
The safety of journalists and media workers, including during armed conflict, is a long-standing human rights and general foreign policy of Austria. As such, Austria is actively advocating for the protection of media professionals in various multilateral fora, e.g. by chairing the thematic Groups of Friends (GoF) in Vienna (OSCE) and Paris (UNESCO) as well as being a member in the GoFs in Geneva, New York (UN) and Strasbourg (Council of Europe).
The activities range from drafting and negotiating resolutions and statements, and organising events to raising awareness as well as financially supporting relevant UN Funds such as the Global Media Defence Fund.
Moreover, to foster the protection of media professionals during armed conflict, Austria contributed to various projects over the past years, including:
• March 2022: USD 100.000 (EUR 90.600) to UNESCO for financing protective equipment and training for journalists in Ukraine;
• 2022/2023: EUR 150.000 to UN Women for a project supporting female journalists in Afghanistan.
