This photo of Mustafa Al-Bayed, a Gazan journalist, was taken in 2023. To learn more about his work, please read UNDP¡¯s . Credit: UNDP PAPP/Abed Zagout
More than a story
The sacrifice that war reporters make everyday
Pen, paper, camera.
Along with an unwavering sense of duty, this is all that journalists are armed with when they work to document the plight of people in some of the most harrowing and dangerous environments around the world.
Journalists have a vital mission of finding and telling the stories of places and people that would otherwise remain unseen by the outside world. Once on the ground, they confront scenes of devastation - landscapes scarred by bombs, bullets, drones and tanks. Yet, even as hunger and despair rage across the world¡¯s battlegrounds, journalists reporting from the frontlines of conflict and crisis relentlessly write, film and document the truth.
In search of truth and accountability, the ultimate price is paid far too often. According to the (UNESCO), 1,825 journalists have been killed since 1993. As of September 2025, so far this year while carrying out their work. Journalists are being murdered: sometimes as collateral damage in indiscriminate attacks, and other times specifically targeted to silence their voices. Yet, their voice can never truly be extinguished, for they are the only ones able to tell the stories of millions caught in conflict.
A story of impunity
¡°This is a time when journalists are needed the most, because if all journalists are killed, who will be left to tell the story,¡± asks Biesan Abu-Kwaik, the Al Jazeera Arabic UN correspondent, speaking at an event called Protecting Press Freedom at the sidelines of the UN General Assembly High-level Week in September 2025 (UNGA80).
Abu-Kwaik, like many reporters all over the world, has recently lost multiple colleagues in conflict. In 2025 alone, (64 per cent) were killed in active conflict zones.
According to Jodie Ginsberg, the Chief Executive of the , this statistic is unsurprising, and in fact indicative of a trend that exceeds the limits of war - ¡°what we are seeing in Gaza is symptomatic of what we are seeing globally, which is a huge decline in support for journalists and journalism.¡±
¡°We are experiencing an abject failure by the international community to ensure that governments¡¯ obligations to uphold international humanitarian law are maintained, including the support of press freedom and the safety of journalists.¡±
Conflict zone or not, a story of impunity hides behind each killed journalist. Out of the 75 killings that the world witnessed in 2025, not a single one is marked as resolved .
In fact, UNESCO¡¯s latest report on the covering the 2022¨C2023 biennium, says that 85 per cent of all journalist killings recorded by the organization since 2006 are considered unresolved, reflecting a global trend that the vast majority of cases of violence against journalists are not prosecuted.
The damage that this inflicts on global societies is not to be underestimated, says Valeriia Bezpala, the Head of Foreign Cooperation at Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne Ukraine.
¡°Journalism is not just a profession, it¡¯s a form of democratic resilience,¡± she states at the - another side event at UNGA80 on the protection of journalists.
The protection of journalists
Back in 2012, UN Member States affirmed the profound role that free, protected, and independent journalism plays globally, with the launch of the .
Although progress has been made with the implementation of the Plan ¨C for example through the adoption of several declarations by the , , and the UN General Assembly ¨C the protection of journalists remains at a critical juncture in 2025.
¡°Tragically, this is becoming more difficult every year. And more dangerous. Journalists face attacks, detentions, censorship, intimidation, violence and even death ¡ª simply for doing their jobs,¡± says the UN Secretary-General, Ant¨®nio Guterres, in his message for on 3 May 2025.
For those who had sacrificed their lives in the name of journalism, change comes too late. Their deaths show the world that, in an age marked by the since the Second World War, tangible progress towards the protection of these storytellers is imperative.
Together, the international community can and must ensure that their lives were not taken in vain. The stories of these people remain, and continue to echo the call for truth and accountability. Protecting the lives and work of journalists is not only about defending individuals, but about defending the possibility of peace itself. Because where free and independent journalism thrives, peace has a foundation to be built on.