Explore data, facts and figures

UNESCO provides the global community with reliable data, statistics and research in the fields of communication and information. This page is regularly updated with resources from UNESCO reports and monitoring tools.

Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists

1,658

journalists killed since 1993

Every 4 days

a journalist is killed.

607

ongoing or unresolved cases of killed journalists.

African Union Member states

covered by a continental mechanism to monitor attacks against journalists

36,000

judicial actors

trained on international and regional standards on freedom of expression.

12,000

law enforcement agents and security forces

trained on freedom of expression and safety of journalists related issues.

Memorandum of Understanding signed

with regional human rights courts, international judicial and police associations.

resources published

for judicial actors and law enforcement agents in several languages

Over 5,000

electoral stakeholders

engaged on freedom of expression and safety of journalists during elections.

Nearly 73%

of our survey respondents identifying as women

said they had experienced online violence.

Over 80

news outlets in 14 languages

Coverage on data presented in "The Chilling"

Over 3000

women journalists and allies trained since 2021

432.000

views of the #JournalistsToo campaign video

in April-May 2021

6,200 times

#JournalistsToo cited on social media

1.6 M people reached, 43.000 engagements with 170 M impressions.

160

data sources analyzed for the 2021/2022 Global edition

of the World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development Report.

civil society organizations

trained to counter the spread of harmful content on social media and promote peace.

Over 30,000

journalists, fact-checkers, and communicators

from 157 countries trained to report on the COVID-19 pandemic and debunk misinformation.

Universal Access to Information

About 1,400

languages enjoy legal recognition

8,324

languages

are documented with approximately 7,000 still in use

Around 1,500

languages risk losing their users in the near future

2,101

languages in countries

have been updated in the World Atlas of Languages

126 countries

participated in 2023

in the UNESCO Survey on SDG 16.10.2

26 countries

adopted Access to Information laws

since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda in 2015

79 countries

reported on good practices

in using ICT for access to information

137

UN Member States have adopted

constitutional, statutory and/or policy guarantees for public access to information.

30 countries

have Open Standards policies

66 countries

have Open Access to Scientific Information policies

71 countries

have Open Data policies

114

Member States

out of which 13 SIDS and 4 Associate Member States participated in OER events in 2022/2023

Over 70

online events have been organized

to raise awareness and strengthen capacities on the OER Recommendation since adopted in 2023.

550

members of the OER Dynamic Coalition

49% of women, 114 member States (15 SIDS), 19% Priority Africa, 16% NGOs in 2023.

193

Member States

have adopted the UNESCO OER Recommendation.

Member States and 1 Associate Member

responded to the global survey on 2019 0ER Recommendation

International Decade for Indigenous Languages 2022-2032 (IDIL)

countries

have implemented a National Action Plan since the launch of IDIL 2022-2032

4,023

communities

have taken part in the efforts for IDIL 2022-2032

746

resources

were produced to support IDIL 2022-2032

1,613

events

were held to promote IDIL 2022-2032

Media and Digital Empowerment

Nearly 66%

of the world’s population is using the Internet.

Wide-scale and sustainable Media and Information Literacy training for all is still missing.

89 countries

celebrated

Global Media and Information Literacy Week 2021.

30 countries

took steps to develop national policy and strategy

on media and information literacy.

Over 500

youth organizations

equipped to counter disinformation with Media and Information Literacy.

500

youth organizations around the globe

trained to integrate media and information literacy in their policies and operations.

Independent and pluralist media

375

community media outlets

more sustainable thanks to policy reforms, and technical and editorial support.

1,700

media professionals from community radios

trained with technical and editorial skills (2018-2021)

Digital Innovation and Transformation

100%

of the 32 surveyed African countries

requested UNESCO’s support for building competencies in AI-related domains

100%

of the 32 surveyed African countries

consider personal data protection and data governance to be an important area of work

60%

of companies

who have adopted agile planning methodologies have increased their profitability

90%

Of judicial operators surveyed

need legal training concerning AI systems (Judges’ Initiative)

Over 5,400

judicial operators

from over 140 countries have registered for UNESCO’s global MOOC on AI and the Rule of Law

85%

of the judicial operators

want to learn about the use of AI tools in legal systems

Only 29%

of science R&D positions

are filled by women

25%

less likely for women

to know how to use digital technology for basic uses than men.

Internet Universality Indicators

principles

Rights, Openness, Accessibility and Multistakeholder Participation

303

ROAM-X indicators

including 109 identified as “core” indicators

completed assessments of IUIs:

Benin, Brazil, Germany, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Paraguay, and Thailand.

countries where the assessment is progressing

Documentary Heritage

1992

Establishment of UNESCO's MoW Programme

to facilitate preservation, access and awareness of the world’s documentary heritage

496

Memory of the World inscriptions

on the International Register since 1995

National MoW Committees established by Member States

Enabling better preservation of and access to documentary heritage

≈ 1,500

policymakers and documentary heritage experts

empowered to advocate for sustainable preservation and accessibility of documentary heritage

Over 260

documentary heritage professionals

supported to make African Memory Institutions more resilient in times of COVID-19

AlUla and Arab documentary heritage in numbers

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International Programme for the Development of Communication

Over 40 years

of support and dialogue

115 million USD

channeled to development worldwide

2,200

projects approved and supported

In over 140

countries of implementation

Journalism Education

Handbooks for Journalism Educators

developed in more than 30 languages

Institutions

upgraded their curricula

Over 20

Courses, Trainings and Webinars

available online for Journalism Educators, Media Practitioners and Newsrooms

Universities worldwide

have been sensitized to IPDC's Journalism Education resources

Information for All Programme

available for IFLA-UNESCO Manifesto

2,068

international stakeholders

engaged in Artificial Intelligence for Information Accessibility (AI4IA) since 2020

IFAP Projects

1.7 million USD

IFAP special account since 2001

2,063

people

(58.8% women) from 8 different countries developed digital literacy skills in 2021

525

experts engaged

in awareness-raising about ethics of Artificial Intelligence in 2022

2,500

ola leaf manuscripts

and 200,000 books digitized in Sri Lanka in 2023

Multi-Donor Programme on Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists

Over 24,000

judicial actors

trained on international standards on freedom of expression

375

community media outlets

more sustainable thanks to policy reforms, and technical and editorial support.

Over 500

youth organizations

equipped to counter disinformation with Media and Information Literacy.

African Union Member states

covered by a continental mechanism to monitor attacks against journalists

Global Media Defence Fund

Calls for Partnerships launched since 2020

Over 120

projects supported around the globe

for a total envelope of approx. USD $4.1 million.

Over 1 million

Estimated US $ amount available in financial grants

under the 2023 Call for Partnerships.