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Afghanistan Deemed Most Insecure Place for Female Journalists
Reporters Without Borders- Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) has called Afghanistan the most insecure place for female journalists; Urging the Afghan government to provide better and secure conditions for journalists in the country.
“Violence against journalists must be ended. The first priority should be securing the environment for journalists,” said Reza Moeni, representative of RSF from Iran.
Farida Nikzad, representative of women journalists in South Asia said, “The problems facing journalists in the current geography have made Afghanistan the most dangerous country for female journalists.”
The issue of journalists security and tracking cases are the main factors that the government wants to have more focus on them.
“Currently, the war is ongoing in more than 15 parts of the country, and Afghan journalists are in a bad and difficult situation,” said Shah Hussain Murtazawi, President’s deputy spokesman.
Sidiq Sidiqi, spokesman of the interior ministry also said, “The issue of journalists security and tracking violence cases against journalists will be the priority of this ministry from now on.”
While Afghan journalists have made great strides in establishing media outlets and providing Afghans with comprehensive coverage of local and national events in recent years, there are still many challenges being faced by local and foreign journalists alike, namely, harassment, threats and lack of support from government authorities, reported by CJEF .
According to a female journalist who heads a radio station in Balkh province, being a female journalist is particularly challenging. They face sexual harassment and threats from officials, strangers and sometimes even family members.
Cultural constraints on women in Afghanistan often restrict them to work inside the office, instead of venturing out to do field work. In many places in Afghanistan, the idea of women undertaking public roles and working is considered taboo.
Additionally, there is pressure on women working in the media from family elders to quit their jobs in order to avoid wider repercussions for the entire family, or because they view the career as unseemly. Lack of training and resources for women in the media is also a serious issue.
In September 2014, Palwasha Tokhi Meranzai, a female Afghan journalist, was killed inside her home by an unknown assailant.
She had received a death threat relating to her reporting about a month before her murder; despite evidence that the motive was tied to her profession, Afghan security services persist in treating it as a robbery.
Since early 2013, press freedom organizations have noted a decrease in the number of women currently working as journalists in Afghanistan due to the culture of fear created by religious militants such as the Taliban and related organizations.
Officials confirm that hundreds of people have been killed and injured after floods in Baghlan, Badakhshan, Ghor and Herat provinces of Afghanistan.
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) in a statement said that a large number of houses have been destroyed and people have suffered huge financial losses.
In the statement, the Ministry of State for Disaster Management, the Ministry of Interior Affairs, and the provincial authorities have been directed to use all their resources to save people, recover the bodies, and treat the injured.
The Islamic Emirate called on the citizens to assist the flood victims.
In Baghlan, Ziauddin, director of Baghlan-i-Markazi district hospital, said that 52 bodies, including 13 women and 13 children, have been taken to the hospital from the floods on Friday night. He added that 73 injured people have also been admitted.
In Takhar, Ahmad Siyar Sajid, the head of natural disasters management of the province, said that eight people died in Ishkemesh, Chal and Namak Ab districts of this province.
Hedayatullah Hamdard, head of the Natural Disaster Department in Baghlan, says at least 50 were killed on Friday afternoon due to floods in several districts of the province.
Hamdard added the figure is not total and that the death toll may increase.
Over the past two days, floods have also caused huge financial losses in Chaharsada and Murghab districts of Ghor province and two people including a child and an old man have disappeared.
Hundreds of acres of agricultural land were destroyed in Chaharsada district and about 50 livestock were also lost.
According to local officials in Ghor, around 50 residential houses in Chaharsada district are under floods.
Iranian officials say work is intensely underway on the implementation of plan to block the country’s eastern border with Afghanistan.
According to Iranian media, the commander of the Ground Forces of Iran spoke on Thursday at a ceremony in the city of Mashhad about the sealing of the country’s borders with Afghanistan.
Kioumars Heydari added: “According to the measures contemplated by the Islamic Republic, we are in the process of sealing the borders.”
He did not specify the exact timing for the completion of the border sealing plan between Iran and Afghanistan, but added: “Our estimate is that the sealing of the eastern border of the country will be completed as soon as possible.”
Afghanistan and Iran share more than 900 kilometers of common border.
Experts, meanwhile, believe that this will cause a change in dealings with Afghan immigrants.
The Islamic Emirate, however, says fencing on the borders of Iran and Afghanistan will proceed in coordination with the Afghan government.
According to experts, Iran is seeking to solve its security concerns and will spend a lot of money in the process of blocking the border but this border wall will be finished for the benefit of both countries, and drug trafficking and movement of terrorist groups will be at least under control.
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