Globe International, a Mongolian NGO celebrated the WPFR on May 3, 2010 at Puma Imperial Hotel in Ulaanbaatar, the capital under slogan “For the People’s Right to Know”. The event gathered more than 40 journalists and media practitioners and media freedom defenders.

Mr. B.Galaarid, Globe International Board Chairman said that it is day of our struggle for media freedom. It is the good opportunity to deliver our voices to the Mongolian authorities and speak out about violations of the journalists’ professional rights and demand our rights to access to information. 

Mrs. Kh Naranjargal, Globe International CEO presented the 2009 Media Freedom Report. She stressed that Mongolian government had taken no actions towards making media legal environment favourable and Freedom of Information laws still delaying since it was included to the Parliament Agenda in 2004. She said “Those who have something to hide are afraid from disclosing information”. She also said that access to information is the biggest obstacle for journalists in their professional activities to tell the truth to the public.  “In accordance with the results of a survey among journalists and free expression monitoring carried out by Globe International censorship is still a big issue, particularly editorial censorship is becoming more serious than before. It comes through media ownership. The Mongolian journalists are highly self-censored and they becoming dolls at hands off their owners”-she noted. 

The number of journalists who want to report on their rights’ violations is getting less and less. During the discussions, there was a question: Why journalists keep silence? The answers are:
- Civil and criminal defamation is used as censorship
- They are afraid from loosing their jobs
- They are afraid from further attacks
- No legal protection of journalists
- Journalist is only person to take responsibilities before the courts. They have to sign contract with their leaders to do this. If the media gets to pay a fine for published stories by the court decision, the journalist must reimburse it from their salaries

During the event, UNESCO General Secretary Irina Bokova’s video message was screened with voice over translation into Mongolian.

Two female journalists received the 2009 Press Freedom Award which was launched by Globe International last year. Both of journalists: Mss. H.Namuun-Uyanga, senior editor of Ogloonii shuudan, daily and Mrs. B.Mayagmarsuren, journalist from “ Zavkhany Medee”, a small weekly in Zavkhan, the remote western province of Mongolia published their critical stories about the government corrupted officials and faced the court attacks. The participants agreed to urge the government to immediately pass the Freedom of Information law. The event was widely reported by the Mongolian media. Globe International launched Media Freedom Prize in 2009 and it was awarded to 8 journalists who were assaulted on July 1, 2008.

H.Namuun-Uyanga, senior editor of Ogloonii shuudan