Every year, 3 May is a date which celebrates the fundamental principles of press freedom; to evaluate press freedom around the world, to defend the media from attacks on their independence and to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the exercise of their profession. It is World Press Freedom Day.

Over 100 national celebrations take place each year to commemorate this Day. UNESCO leads the worldwide celebration by identifying the global thematic and organizing the main event in different parts of world every year.

The international day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 1993 following a Recommendation adopted at the 26th Session of UNESCO’s General Conference in 1991. This in turn was a response to a call by African journalists who in 1991 produced the landmark Windhoek Declaration on media pluralism and independence.

World Press Freedom Day events.

UNESCO and the Government of Latvia are co-hosting the World Press Freedom Day’s main event and the UNESCO/ Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize Ceremony in Riga, Latvia, from 2-4 May 2015:

• 2 May 2015:
  Side-events of WPFD will take place at the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga (http://www.sseriga.edu/en/)
• 3 and 4 May 2015:
  Main events including the Opening Ceremony, Plenary Sessions, Parallel Roundtable Sessions, and the Award Ceremony of the prestigious UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Day will take place at the new National Library (http://www.lnb.lv/en/nll-new-building)
• 3 May 2015:
  An evening reception will be hosted by the President of Latvia at the National Railway Museum (http://www.latvia.travel/en/sight/latvian-railway-history-museum-riga)
• Social Media Campaign:
  UNESCO and Google Join Forces to Raise Awareness