World Press Freedom Day 2021 Banner This year’s celebration marks the 30th anniversary of the Windhoek Declaration, developed by African journalists pressing for a free, independent, and pluralistic African press. UNESCO and the Government of Namibia will host the World Press Freedom Day Global Conference in Windhoek from 29 April through 3 May, World Press Freedom Day. The laureate of the 2021 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano Press Freedom Prize will be honoured during the conference, on 2 May. Professional journalists and other media stakeholders at the Conference will call for urgent measures to counter the threats that are weakening independent and local news media around the world, a crisis worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. They will put forward solutions to bolster media viability, push for greater transparency from social media companies, and measures to improve the safety of journalists and support independent media. Participants are also expected to urge governments to invest in media and information literacy training to help people recognize, value, and defend fact-based journalism as an essential part of information as a public good.