UNESCO Report: Nearly Half World Has Internet Access, More Women Journalists Deaths

According to the World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development Global Report for 2017-2018, nearly half of the world's 7.6 billion population has access to the internet.

RELATED: 
Cuba Presents Alternative for Fighting Climate Change to Unesco

The figure, which was released at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) 39th General Conference on Monday, increased from 34 percent to 48 percent last year.

Rising mobile internet connectivity in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean was credited for the boost in information accessibility.

In January, Wikipedia counted nearly twice as many articles as in January 2012, a trend driven by diversification due to sharing and user-generated content.

Contrastingly, newspaper circulation recorded decreases in all regions, except in Asia-Pacific.

Increase journalist deaths

The report also pointed to an increase in the murder of women journalists during the period, from five in 2012 to ten in 2016.

Overall, approximately 530 journalists were killed, an average of two deaths per week. The report revealed that 92 percent of journalists killed were local reporters.

A significant increase in autonomy was underscored in Africa, the Arab states and Asia-Pacific for journalists, the report stated, highlighting digital media and international investigative journalism collaborations as the boosting factors.

The report cited literacy campaigns, partnerships with fact-checking and research organizations as useful tools to stem wide-scale hate speech, violent extremism, misogyny, racism and “fake news” in the media.

Both director-general of UNESCO and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) chief recommitted to pushing access to quality education and technology for sustainable development as well as the protection of cultural sites during the conference.

While Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) head, Abdul Aziz bin Othman Al-Twaijri, reiterated that proper education is crucial to lasting peace.

“As a result, millions of children are deprived of their right to pursue a decent education in a normal atmosphere of security and stability,” Al-Twajiri said referring to political tensions, economic crises and armed conflicts globally.

The ISESCO chief added that UNESCO has a responsibility to address those issues.

“Today, the number of refugees in the world exceeds 50 million, 25 percent of whom are children... While ISESCO is monitoring this situation and making constant efforts to ensure access to education for refugee children... international cooperation in this important area is still a very pressing need,” Al-Twaijri said.

The ISESCO director-general said the dangers of ignorance, extremism and terrorism are must-fixes to for the existing and future generations to thrive.

“A real mobilization is required to ensure security and peace and equal education opportunities for all …” he added.