The United Kingdom on Wednesday announced 250,000 pounds to support media and information freedom in Afghanistan.
In a statement, British Ambassador in Kabul Alison Blake praised the expansion of Afghanistan’s independent and diverse media as a remarkable success of the last 18 years but underlined concern about impact of the conflict on journalist’s safety and the significant threats faced by journalists working in Afghanistan.
“Supporting media freedom is a global priority for the UK Government and in Afghanistan we are working to this end by promoting the safety of journalists, supporting women journalists and working to promote access to information,” Blake said.
“The UK welcomes the steps that the Afghan Government has taken to improve the security of journalists, and we will continue to work with them and media representatives to ensure that the media is as safe and free as it can be.”
She said that the newly announced funds would go to organizations and projects that would advance these priorities by developing the capability and capacity of female journalists outside Kabul, supporting journalists in tackling the security challenges they face and creating a platform to improve the access and management of information by journalists.
