Assistance to Press Freedom can Fight Famine

 “in the terrible history of famines in the world, no substantial famine has ever occurred in any independent and democratic country with a relatively free press” 

                    – Amartya Sen, Nobel Laureate and author of Poverty and Famines

On November 4, 2021  USAID announced new funding in support of a fund for protection of journalists, a step toward improving freedom of the press in poorer countries.  USAID Administrator Samantha Power, who began her career as a journalist, announced that the Biden administration was setting up a Global Defamation Defense Fund in her presentation at Georgetown University.  This initiative follows the precedent set by the UK Government in 2019, when then Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt set up the “Global Media Defense Fund” co-funded at the time by Britain and Canada.  This fund is managed by UNESCO (https://en.unesco.org/global-media-defence-fund ) .  Among other things, this fund has been providing local financing to national organizations “supporting investigative journalism that contributes to reduced impunity for crimes against journalists, and enhancing the safety of those conducting this line of work.”

The Georgetown event was co-hosted by the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, and referenced at:  https://sfs.georgetown.edu/usaid-administrator-samantha-power-discusses-vision-for-global-development-at-sfs-event/