7 July 2010, Jalalabad - With violence increasingly gripping the region, journalists of Afghanistan’s east have voiced their serious concerns about their safety and their lack of access to information.

In a six-point resolution endorsed at a meeting in the eastern regional hub of Jalalabad on Monday, over two dozen journalists called on Afghan authorities, international forces and insurgent groups to respect the neutral media role to provide timely and accurate information, and to ensure the safety of media personnel.

“Journalists are impartial people. They are not supporting anyone. We ask the stakeholders to ensure security of journalists and not threaten them,” states the resolution, endorsed by the journalists of three eastern provinces – Nangarhar, Kunar and Laghman.

“We call on the Government and the coalition forces to allow us to go to and cover the places of incidents before the areas are cleared. We seriously request the parties to the conflict to provide us with accurate information on time.”

The journalists, who often complain about their lack of access to information, also decided not to disseminate any more “one-sided” news and propaganda.

They complained that “contradictory information” on security incidents provided by insurgents, Government authorities and international forces place media workers in trouble.

Abdul Mueed Hashemi of the Pajhwok Afghan News agency called on the United Nations to support media workers to address these challenges.

By Tilak Pokharel and Shafiqullah Waak, UNAMA