SW News: The UK government has pledged nearly £600,000 for a new secretariat to support the work of the Media Freedom Coalition.

In a statement issued on February 9, Lord Tariq Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State for South and Central Asia, UN & the Commonwealth, and the Prime Minister's Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict, announced the funding at a ministerial meeting of Coalition partners in Estonia. Meanwhile, Thomson Reuters Foundation will associate with the administrative functioning of the Coalition activities.

Formed in 2019, the Media Freedom Coalition of 50 countries works together to campaign for a free press and the safety of journalists and hold those who hurt journalists while performing their job accountable. Members of the Coalition have signed a Global Pledge on Media Freedom, which is a written commitment to strengthen media freedom within countries while also cooperating worldwide. The Coalition will promote media freedom through lobbying in particular cases, fighting to hold abusers accountable, assisting Coalition members and other nations in improving media rights.

With nearly 55 journalists and media workers killed last year and many journalists imprisoned for their job, media freedom remains a critical concern. The Coalition, since its establishment, has issued more than 20 joint declarations condemning the abuses and violations of media freedom.

Meanwhile, the Media Freedom Coalition has raised the alarm over attacks on press freedom and the suppression of independent local media in Hong Kong by Hong Kong and mainland Chinese authorities.