A/HRC/40/45 information, conducting advocacy on protecting the rights of religious and ethnic minority groups and following up on incidents of violence against journalists, media workers, civil society activists and human rights defenders. On 9 May, the Commission organized a national conference on accountability, human rights, justice and peace in Kabul. The conference was attended by the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights. On 26 June, UNAMA/OHCHR delivered a training on the preparation of stakeholder reports by civil society as part of the country’s third cycle universal periodic review, scheduled for 21 January 2019. 68. The term of office of the commissioners of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission expired on 30 June. On 9 July, a presidential order was issued setting out the procedure for the selection of new commissioners, amending a previous order issued on 26 May. The order established a two-tier vetting system to ensure suitable qualifications and diversity among a final pool of 27 applicants, from which 9 will be selected by the President. IX. Safety of journalists and media workers 69. Journalists and media workers continued to face intimidation and violence by antigovernment elements and pro-government forces. During the reporting period, UNAMA/OHCHR documented 31 conflict-related incidents (30 by anti-government elements and 1 by an unidentified perpetrator) in six provinces. These incidents resulted in the killing of 15 journalists and injuries to 13, 1 incident of threat, and the burning of a radio station and a television station. On 30 April, in a targeted attack in Kabul, nine journalists were killed and six injured while performing their professional duties. 70. On 16 October, the Government launched the journalists support fund aimed at helping journalists and bereaved families of media workers. UNAMA/OHCHR continued to engage with civil society organizations and government officials to promote protection for journalists and media workers. X. Cooperation with the United National human rights mechanisms 71. In 2018, UNAMA/OHCHR continued to support the Government to strengthen its capacity for increased engagement with United Nations human rights mechanisms, including the universal periodic review process. Discussions have been under way between UNAMA/OHCHR and the Government to agree upon a time frame for the provision of technical assistance in support of the establishment of a national mechanism for reporting and follow-up. On 22 October, the Government submitted its national report for the third cycle of the universal periodic review. 72. On 5 November, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed UNAMA/OHCHR that the drafting process for several reports, namely to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Committee on the Rights of the Child, was under way. 73. The Government of Afghanistan continued efforts to implement the national plan for the implementation of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000), utilizing its own capacity to implement the first phase of the action plan without the support of the international community. The third report of the Government on the implementation of the national action plan was to be submitted in December. 74. In August, with the technical support of UNAMA/OHCHR, Afghanistan began work on drafting an anti-discrimination law which aims at safeguarding the rights of minorities, women and other marginalized groups. 12