Agenda Programme of the World Press Freedom Day 2025.

 

Programme of the World Press Freedom Day Signature Event - 7 May 2025

9:30 - 10:45 - Registration
Registration and badge pick up at BOZAR. Networking Breakfast
11:00 - 12:05 - Opening Session


High Level Opening Address

•  H.E. Ms. Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director-GeneralVideo-Message from United Nations Secretary-General, 
• H.E. Mr. Antonio Guterres Ms. Dubravka Šuica, EU Commissioner for Mediterranean [TBC]
• Mr. Rob Beenders, Minister of Consumer Protection, the fight against Social Fraud, Persons with Disabilities and Equal Opportunities, Belgium
• Ms. Cieltje Van Achter, Flemish Minister of Brussels and Media
• Ms. Elisabeth Degryse, Minister-President of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation

Video-Message from 

•  Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, European Commission

Master of ceremony: 

• Annelies Beck, Moderator and Presenter, VRT

Show Part 1

• Godparents of AI” - Video contribution by Yoshua Bengio, Turing Award Winner and pioneer of artificial neural networks and deep learning

Fireside chat testimonies; 

• From Eyewitness reporting to the ‘Art of Prompting’ Testimony on “Why Journalist is the best profession in the World” by Jaime Abello Banfi, General Director, Gabo Foundation
• Testimony by a “Generation AI” Tobi Ayeni (Miss Techy), a tech content creator

12:05 - 13:00 HIGH LEVEL KICK-OFF SESSION - Information as a Public Good in the Age of AI.

• Ms. Fiona Crack, Controller, Global News, BBC
• Ms. Mira Milosevic, Executive Director, Global Forum on Media Development
• Ms. Glenda Daniels, Associate Professor, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
• Mr. João Brant, Secretary of Digital Policies, Presidency of the Republic of Brazil
• Ms. Rebecca MacKinnon, Vice President Wikimedia
• Ms. Katarina Wallin Bureau, General Manager, Strategic Relations – Microsoft European and Government Affairs

Moderator: Mr. Olle Zachrison, Senior News Editor AI at BBC News and recipient of the 2024 Swedish UNESCO Prize.


13:00 - 15:00 LUNCH BREAK

Ceremony for the Award of the Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize.
Invitation only. Venue to be communicated.

15:00 - 15:15 Proclamation of the inscription of the Windhoek Declaration in the Memory of the World

Historic context of the Windhoek Declaration:

•  Ms. Gwen Lister journalist and publisher, chair of the 1991 Windhoek Conference
• Handover ceremony on the inscription of the Windhoek Declaration by Mr. Tawfik Jelassi, Assistant Director General for Communication and Information
• Mr. Frans Nghitila, Director, Print Media Affairs, Ministry of Information & Communication Technology of Namibia

Moderator: Annelies Beck, Moderator and Presenter, VRT


15:15 - 15:20 Special Video-Message from 

• Mr. Michael McGrath, EU Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection

15:20 - 16:30 Plenary I: AI and the future of Journalism

• Mr. Carlos Eduardo Huertas, Director of Connectas
• Ms. Nighat Dad, Founder of the Digital Rights Foundation
• Mr. Khalid Waleed, Expert on Digital Transformation in Journalism for the project on Artificial Intelligence Strategy for Small & Medium size Newsrooms
• Mr. Thibaut Bruttin, Director-General, Reporters Without Borders and Chair of the Forum for Information and Democracy
• Ms. Lucie-Aimée Kaffee, EU Policy Lead & Applied Researcher at Hugging Face

Moderator: Laura Greenhalgh, Managing Editor, Político Europe

16:30 - 17:05 Special Mandate-holders statement and dialogue on AI and Freedom of Expression

• Ms. Irene Khan, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression
• Mr. Pedro Vaca Villareal, IACHR Special Rapporteur
• Mr. Jan Braathu, OSCE Representative on the Freedom of the Media
• Ms. Ourveena Geereesha Topsy-Sonoo, Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa

Moderator: Ms. Quinn McKew, Executive Director, Article 19

16:55 - 18:05 Plenary II: Freedom of expression and AI: Press Freedom, Information Integrity, and the Rule of Law 

• Mr. Michael O'Flaherty, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe
• Mr. Pedro Conceição, Director of the Human Development Report Office, UNDP
• Ms. Helani Galpaya, CEO of LIRNEasia
• Ms. Irene Jay Liu, Regional Director, Asia & the Pacific, International Fund for Public Interest Media
• Ms. Neema Lugangira, MP Tanzania and Chair, African Parliamentary Network on Internet Governance

Moderated by Ms. Karen Kaiser, Legal Counsel AP

18:05 - 18:15 Launch of the Joint Statement by the presidents of the relevant bodies of the United Nations

• H.E. Amb. Simona-Mirela Miculescu, President of the UNESCO General Conference

With video contribution by H.E. Mr. Philemon Yang, President of the UN General Assembly; H.E. Amb. Bob Rae, President of the UN Economic and Social Council; H.E. Amb. Jürg Lauber, President of the Human Rights Council,

Moderator: Annelies Beck, Moderator and Presenter, VRT

18:15 - 18:35 Way forward

• Ms. Minna-Liina Lind, Undersecretary for Global Affairs at Estonian Foreign Ministry, Government of Estonia, Co-Chair Media Freedom Coalition
• Ms. Nicole Cardoch, Undersecretary General, Government of Chile
• Ms. Dominique Pradalié, President, International Federation of Journalists (announcing the IFJ Centenary Congress in Paris on the occasion of WPFD 2026)

18:35 - 18:45 Closing

• Professor Mr. Jan Dankaert, Rector of The Vrije University in Brussels (co-convener of the first partners’ parallel event which took place on May 2nd)
• Ms. Sylvie Coudray, Director, Freedom of Expression, Media Development and Media and Information Literacy, UNESCO