World Press Freedom Prize 2019 awarded to Myanmar Journalists

The World Press Freedom Prize also known as UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize is formally conferred every year by Director-General of UNESCO, on occasion of World Press Freedom Day observed on 3 May.
Recipients of World Press Freedom Prize 2019

• In 2019 award would be shared by two jailed Myanmar journalists ‘Wa Lone’ and ‘Kyaw Soe Oo’ who reported on alleged human rights violations in state of Rakhine, Myanmar.
• The Reuters reporters are serving seven year prison sentence in Myanmar. They are charged with breaking country’s secrets law for their journalistic investigation on military’s brutal crackdown and killings of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state.

Importance

It honours a person, organization or institution which has made an outstanding contribution for defending and promoting freedom of press anywhere in world, especially when achieved it in face of danger by fighting all odds.
It includes a cash Prize worth $25000.

Background

It was established in 1997 on initiative of UNESCO’s Executive Board. The name ‘Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize’ is to honour Guillermo Cano Isaza, a Colombian journalist who was a vocal critic of Columbosa’s powerful drug barons and was assassinated in front of his newspaper El Espectador office in Bogotá, Colombia on 17 December 1986.