The meeting on 15 June - one of UNESCO’s many activities to celebrate World Press Freedom Day - was organized around three roundtables on freedom of expression, sustainable development and poverty reduction, media and poverty reduction from a regional perspective, and access to communication, citizen participation and poverty reduction.

“The seminar has very much advanced our understanding of the relation between press freedom and poverty reduction in a practical way, and in the context of the Millennium Development Goals”, says UNESCO's Günter Cyranek.

The Opening Ceremony of teh meeting was chaired by Marina Arismendi, Social Development Minister; Carlos Alvarez, President of MERCOSUR’s Permanent Representatives Commission, and Jorge Grandi, Director of UNESCO’s Regional Office for Science for Latin America and the Caribbean.