HERAT - A free and independent press is crucial for promoting peace and the respect for human rights, stressed participants in a UN-backed event that was later broadcast by television to audiences in and around Afghanistan’s western province of Herat.

GARDEZ - University students from the southeast province of Paktya gathered at a UN-backed symposium in the provincial capital of Gardez to make their voices heard on the crucial importance of respecting and protecting human rights.

QALA-E-NAW - At a UN-backed event in Qala-e-Naw, the capital of Badghis province in western Afghanistan, community leaders underscored the need for stronger measures to protect children in armed conflict.