The Center for the Advancement of Rights and Democracy (CARD) has commemorated the World Press Freedom Day, on the 3rd of May 2023 at the Interluxury Hotel in a panel discussion jointly hosted by the Ethiopian Media Council (EMC) and UNESCO. 

This year's theme for the day commemoration is "Shaping a Future of Rights: Freedom of Expression as a Driver for All Other Human Rights". 

As a human rights organization determined for democratization, CARD believes the press is a pillar of freedom of expression, which is essential to any democracy. Therefore, its support for the media safety, professionalism, and dialogue is motivated by its faith in a positive progress. At the today's panel discussion,  Mulatu Alemayehu, Assistant Professor at the AAU School of Journalism, Tibebu Belete, President of the Ethiopian Mass Media Professionals Association, Martha Dejene, member of the Ethiopian Media Women Association, and Tamirat Hailu, executive committee member to the Ethiopian Media Council, took the panel. Diverse representatives of the media have also attended it. 

As a leader of a consortium of seven human rights organizations, CARD has been receiving financial support to support the works of media associations and the media council, a statutory council of Ethiopian media, from the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) under its Civil Society Support Fund. Partial cost of this panel discussion was supported by the fund from AFD.