As the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan deepens, the right of all Afghan people to trustworthy information must be upheld.
Crisis after crisis around the world has shown that as humanitarian needs escalate, people must have timely, relevant, and accurate information as well as food, water and shelter to help them survive and cope.
Ethical, accurate and non-partisan media content provides people with insight into the issues affecting their lives, enables dialogue across society and holds those in power to account.
Today, displacement, violence and uncertainty face the people of Afghanistan. With many struggling to meet their immediate, basic needs, challenges are being compounded by increasingly restricted access to trusted information and severe disruption to the media.
At 大象传媒 Media Action, we are proud to have been working with local communities, media partners and female and male journalists in Afghanistan for twenty years.
Experience shows that a co-ordinated approach to safeguarding access to critical and credible information should be central to the response to this situation. We must stand by women and girls and support the media that have amplified their voices in recent years, and been so critical to people鈥檚 lives in Afghanistan.
As this crisis unfolds, defending the safety of journalists working in Afghanistan; international efforts to assist those journalists who wish to relocate; supporting the media to produce content that meets public needs; and working alongside media organisations as they adapt their operations will all be vital.
We work to continue to support our colleagues, partners and audiences in Afghanistan at this grave and worrying time.
