The UN cultural organisation UNESCO stated on Monday that after several years of uninterrupted decline, the number of journalists killed globally increased to 86 last year from 55 in 2021, indicating a 36% increase.
More than half of the murders took place in this region, with Mexico having the highest number of media professionals killed there, followed by Haiti and Ukraine.
The UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said on Monday that "the authorities must speed up their efforts to put an end to these crimes and ensure that perpetrators are convicted because indifference is a major factor in this climate of violence."
According to him, the number of media professionals slain actually decreased between 2018 and 2021 before sharply increasing again.
According to UNESCO, half of all journalist deaths occurred when the victims were on vacation or at home.
According to the article, there is nowhere safe for journalists to work, not even during downtime.