GENEVA - The UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, Irene Khan, will conduct a country visit to Zambia from 20 to 31 January 2025. The Special Rapporteur will assess a range of issues related to the right to freedom of opinion and expression, including the legal and policy framework and the safety of journalists, human rights defenders and civil society actors in the country. During her visit, Ms. Khan will meet with various actors, including officials from the Government, the National Assembly, the judiciary, independent institutions, the international community, the media, human rights defenders, academia and civil society actors. She will travel to Lusaka, Livingstone and Kitwe. The expert will hold a press conference on Friday 31 January at 12:00 noon local time at the UN House. Access will be strictly limited to journalists. The Special Rapporteur will present her report on the visit to the UN Human Rights Council in June 2025. Ms. Irene Khan is the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression. The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Rapporteurs/Independent Experts/Working Groups are independent human rights experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council. Together, these experts are referred to as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. While the UN Human Rights office acts as the secretariat for Special Procedures, the experts serve in their individual capacity and are independent from any government or organization, including OHCHR and the UN. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the UN or OHCHR. Country-specific observations and recommendations by the UN human rights mechanisms, including the special procedures, the treaty bodies and the Universal Periodic Review, can be found on the Universal Human Rights Index https://uhri.ohchr.org/en/ For inquiries and media requests, please contact Laurens van der Woude (laurens.vanderwoude@un.org). For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts please contact Maya Derouaz (maya.derouaz@un.org) or Dharisha Indraguptha (dharisha.indraguptha@un.org) Follow news related to the UN’s independent human rights experts on Twitter @UN_SPExperts.