The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) will bring together more than 300 representatives of journalists’ organisations in Paris from 4 to 7 May 2026 for its Centenary World Congress, with the support of its French affiliates SNJ, SNJ-CGT, CFDT and Force Ouvrière.
The IFJ represents 188 journalists’ unions and associations worldwide, and speaks on behalf of more than 600,000 journalists. It champions social justice in the media, decent working conditions for the entire profession, and works for free and independent media as well as an independent public broadcasting service that respects pluralism.
With less than five weeks to go before the opening of the 32nd Congress, the final preparatory stages are now underway. These include nominations for the upcoming elections and the various committees sitting at the Congress, a press conference, motions to be debated, plus a historical publication tracing the federation’s history. The IFJ Secretariat and regional offices are working hard to welcome more than 300 delegates from across the world, from Palestine to Sweden, and from Indonesia to Sudan and Peru.
The Congress’s agenda will include: essential discussions on international law and press freedom, surveillance and artificial intelligence as well as their impact on journalistic work, climate change coverage, the lack of job stability in the profession, strengthening of authors’ rights, and gender equality in journalism. All of these debates will be anchored in the IFJ’s core values: solidarity, trade unionism and press freedom.
For its centenary, the IFJ will also welcome numerous international guests, including representatives from several United Nations agencies (notably UNESCO and the ILO), as well as the secretaries-general of global trade union confederations, long-standing partners and friends of the federation. When founded in 1926, the IFJ’s first headquarters was established in Paris, in the premises of the international organisation that would become UNESCO in 1945.
A press conference on the Congress will be organised in advance for the French press.
IFJ Secretary General Anthony Bellanger said: “This Centenary Congress is a decisive moment for the profession on a global scale. It must set the direction for the future of journalism. We call on all our affiliates to engage fully, in order to make it a success worthy of our history and the challenges of our time.”
Congress agenda:
- Sunday 3 May: Delegate registration at the hotel
- Monday 4 May: Registration and official opening of the Congress
- Tuesday 5 May: Election of the presidium and committees; submission of final candidacies
- Thursday 7 May: Closing ceremony
Press Contact International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) communications@ifj.org +32 2 235 22 16 Congress page: here.