ARTICLE 19 - Global

ARTICLE 19 monitors, researches, publishes, lobbies, campaigns, and litigates to support freedom of expression wherever it is threatened. The organisation develops standards to advance media freedom, assist individuals to speak out, and campaign for the free flow of information.

Offered in Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish, the ARTICLE 19 website is a key strategy for communicating information about freedom of information - and for furthering advocacy efforts. Campaigning links (with addresses) are offered to various organisations worldwide. Over 2,000 publications (as of March 2007) are available for download in several languages; many of them can also be ordered in printed format. News and discussion of ARTICLE 19's 5 regional programmes in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin American are also offered.

In addition to information and communication technologies (ICTs), ARTICLE 19 uses the following strategies in its work on freedom of expression issues, around the world:

• Working in partnership with national organisations in an effort to spur institutional, cultural and legal change, and fostering networks (e.g., by supporting the creation of national or regional campaigning networks, and facilitating cross-sectoral relations and initiatives among non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and governments).
• Carrying out monitoring and research: ARTICLE 19 monitors threats to freedom of expression in different regions of the world, as well as national and global trends, and develops long-term strategies to address them. It also carries out research, such as an analysis of the role of broadcast media in the Rwandan genocide and of the media in the former Yugoslavia conflict.
• Conducting advocacy/lobbying and campaigning, in the form of: access to information campaigns (click here for examples), efforts to raise public awareness about freedom of expression, and advocacy/litigation on behalf of specific individuals and groups who are persecuted for expressing their views. The organisation also lobbies national governments and international and regional bodies to bring national laws in line with international standards.
• Engaging in standard-setting and other legal development initiatives: ARTICLE 19 produces legal standards which are designed to: strengthen media, public broadcasting, free expression and access to information - and then promotes these standards with regional and international inter-governmental organisations. ARTICLE 19 also produces legal analyses and critiques of national laws, including media laws, and drafts model laws to assist civil society organisations and governments.
• Capacity-building: ARTICLE 19 provides legal and professional training and mentoring to national actors, including NGOs, judges and lawyers, journalists, media owners, media lawyers, public officials and parliamentarians.

Journalism, Freedom of Information, Rights.

According to organisers, the media is relatively free in only about one third of the world's countries. For instance, "Insult laws" make it a crime to offend the "honor and dignity" of heads of states, public officials, state offices, and national institutions. Many African countries have maintained insult laws on their statute books and frequently invoke them against journalists in ways that violate guarantees of free expression and access to information laid down in both national constitutions and international treaties. Organisers feel that there cannot be good governance if the media is not free or if it is subject to laws that inhibit or prevent the gathering and dissemination of news and information.