A day-long programme at UNESCO Headquarters on 26 September will focus on the enormous potential of information to help meet the objectives the international community set for itself late last year when it adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030. The event marks the first International Day for Universal Access to Information, which will be celebrated around the world two days later, on 28 September.

The conference and discussions, grouped under the title Powering sustainable development with public access to information, is organized by UNESCO’s International Programme for the Development of Communications (IPDC) in collaboration with the Organization’s Information for All Programme (IFAP). It will feature the participation of leading players and experts from all over the world, who will argue that that public access to information and ICTs, along with strengthening media institutions that help assure access, is key to achieving the SDGs in their totality.

One of the leading advocates for sustainable development, Ghanaian President, John Dramani Mahama, who co-chairs the UN Advocacy Group on SDGs, will deliver a keynote address at the close of the conference.

The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, will open the “IPDC Talks” alongside Albana Shala, Chair of UNESCO’s International Programme for Development of Communication, and Lionel Veer Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to UNESCO and Neris Germanas Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania.

Lithuania’s and the Netherlands’ Permanent Delegations to UNESCO have financed the event, along with the Netherlands’ National Commission for UNESCO.

The Permanent Delegations of Sweden and Finland will launch an exhibition commemorating the 250th anniversary of the Freedom of the Press Act passed in 1766 in what is today Sweden and Finland on the occasion of International Day for the Universal Access to Information.