Kathmandu: The International Federation of Journalists IFJ has urged the Nepal government to immediately withdraw its decision to allocate government advertisements exclusively to state owned media outlets.

The call came during the IFJ World Congress held in Paris, France, from May 4 to 7, 2026 where delegates expressed serious concern over the policy and extended full support to the protest launched by the Federation of Nepali Journalists FNJ.

The directive, issued by Nepal’s Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers on April 30, 2026 (Baisakh 18, 2082 BS), states that government advertisements at all levels should be provided only to state run media institutions.

In its resolution, the IFJ said the decision could negatively impact editorial independence, press freedom, freedom of expression, the right to information and the autonomy of journalism in Nepal.

The congress warned that strengthening state media through exclusive government advertising could lead to monopoly over information dissemination and increase government control over the media sector.

The IFJ also noted that advertising remains a major source of revenue for many media organizations and such a policy could undermine the financial sustainability of independent media, threaten journalists’ livelihoods and restrict citizens’ access to diverse sources of information.

The organization recalled the FNJ’s position that the government’s decision contradicts constitutional guarantees of pluralism, federalism, equality, press freedom and the right to information.

Referring to UNESCO’s Media Development Indicators the IFJ stressed that public advertising should be distributed in a fair, transparent and non discriminatory manner and should never be used as a tool to reward or punish media outlets.

The IFJ’s centenary congress called on the Nepal government to revoke the “discriminatory policy” immediately, ensure equal access to public advertising for all media organizations and refrain from introducing legal or policy measures that could weaken press freedom.

FNJ President Nirmala Sharma represented Nepal at the conference.