What is the Chapultepec Project?

Simply put, the Declaration of Chapultepec is based on the idea that “no law or act of government may limit freedom of expression or of the press, whatever the medium.” The Declaration is unique among international documents in that it was written by private citizens, with no involvement from any government whatsoever.

The IAPA’s Chapultepec Project was started in 1994 and since then has received financial support from the McCormick Foundation. Its initial goal (1996–2001) was to promote broad public understanding of the importance of press freedom for a sustainable democracy and social well-being, in accordance with the Declaration’s ten principles. After these principles became established as a standard for press freedom, it was clear that judicial and legislative institutions needed to be strengthened if they were to become an integral part of the political culture.

Thus, the Chapultepec Project focused on the judicial branch (2002–2004) to provide it with the tools it needed to interpret laws related to these basic rights. Since 2005, the project has shifted its attention to the legislative branch, in a country-by-country effort to bring national legislation into line with the Declaration’s principles.