Article19
Self-portrait
DEFENDING THE RIGHT TO FREEDOM of EXPRESSION AND FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
ARTICLE 19 is campaigning with people around the world for the right to exercise these rights.
With offices in Bangladesh, Brazil, Kenya, Mexico, Tunisia, Senegal and the UK, and in collaboration with 90 partners worldwide, we:
- Work on behalf of freedom of expression wherever it is threatened. This work includes monitoring, research, publishing, advocacy, campaigning, setting standards and litigation.
- Advise on the development of legislation to protect freedom of expression and freedom of information in countries emerging from conflict, war and genocide.
- Campaign to safeguard pluralism, independence and diversity of views in the media.
- Champion freedom of expression, including freedom of information, as a fundamental human right that is central to the protection of other rights.
- Advocate for freedom of information legislation to ensure transparency and to strengthen citizens' participation.
(https://www.article19.org/pages/en/what-we-do.html)
Description
Article 19 is a non-governmental human rights organization based in London, England, Legally, it is a limited charity company (https://www.article19.org/pages/es/governance.html) and its purpose is supporting and fostering freedom of speech and information access globally. It was established in February 1987 by J. Roderick MacArthur, Greg MacArthur, Aryeh Neier, Martin Ennals. Its current executive directior is Thomas Hughes (https://www.article19.org/pages/en/executive-director.html). The organization’s name is a reference to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights article 19, which states the right to freedom of opinion and expression.
Article 19 ensures freedom of speech, press and information access through a series of activities, such as: monitoring abuse of or threats to freedom of speech; pressuring governments into developing legislative frameworks in compliance with international agreements on freedom of speech; drafting legal proposal to further freedom and independence in media, as well as open access to government information; analyzing legislation, as well as providing direct legal support to individuals, groups and organizations whose rights have been violated. Its main lines of action are: media regulation; freedom of information; censorship, violence and freedom of press; governance and democracy; discrimination; libel; communication and information technologies and new media; conflicts and security (https://www.article19.org/pages/es/what-we-do.html).
Article 19 develops its activities through seven offices across Asia and the Pacific, Central America, East Africa, Europe and Central Asia, North Africa and the Middle East, South America, and West Africa. The organization collaborates with close to 100 organizations based in more than 60 countries across the globe, and it’s part of several networks of non-governmental associations dedicated to the freedom of speech, such as the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX), the Freedom of Information Advocates Network (FOIA) and other organizations working locally, such as the Tunisian Monitoring Group and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA). It also collaborates with institutions such as the United Nations (UN), African Union (AU), European Union (EU) and the Organization of American States (OAS).
Article 19’s funding depends on contributions from both public and private parties, such as the Swedish International Development Agenda (SIDA), the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Ford Foundation, Fritt Ord, the Open Society Institute (OSI) and the the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (https://www.article19.org/pages/en/funders.html). It currently boasts over 100 employees and an annual budget of over 4 million pounds (data from 2015, sourced from https://www.article19.org/data/files/2015_Accounts.pdf).
Links
URL: https://www.article19.org/
Wayback Machine: http://web.archive.org/web/20160817014623/https://www.article19.org/
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_19
