Twenty-eight Nepalese organisations are taking part in the mission, as well as a swathe of Western groups including the International Federation of Journalists, Article 19 and the World Press Freedom Committee.
Building on the work of a smiliar mission in July 2005, the group will meet members of the Nepalese media as well as the authorities and security forces. The trip will culminate with a press freedom conference in Kathmandu on 24 March.
Nepalese authorities have been engaged in a bloody civil war with Maoist rebels for 10 years, during which time more than 13,000 people are reported to have been killed.
Press freedom has been severely restricted under the rule of King Gyanendra, who invoked a state of emergency and imposed heavy reporting restrictions in February 2005. Radio channels are blocked from broadcasting political news, and journalists are banned from supplying political news to foreign media organisations.
The BBC World Service is understood to be restricted and the BBC Nepali website has been blocked.
Journalists have organised several protests against the reporting restrictions. One hundred journalists were arrested during a protest in June 2005 when scuffles broke out between protesters and the police.
The internet has provided an increasingly vital platform for alternative news and information. One small group of Nepalese journalists is making a stand against government censorship with a new website devoted to independent, politically impartial news.
Golmech.com was founded by seven journalists in response to increasing political pressure from the authorities.
Narayan Amrit, founder of the site and member of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists, said the team had been inspired to build the site on the principles of "professional ethics and democratic values".
"We publish investigative reporting into anti-corruption, peace and sustainable development, and we will include coverage on all parts of our society and our nation," Mr Amrit told journalism.co.uk.
In his day job as a reporter at the Rajdhani National, he says he cannot report freely on the news because the newspaper's publisher is a supporter of the Royal coup.
"Sometimes the army officer calls me or my editor pressures us to make the news favourable to the King," he said.
"But I will not compromise the cost of freedom."
Writing recently on citizen journalism network OhMyNews, Nepalese broadcast journalist Radheshyam Dahal said the site had helped him continue to practice as a professional journalist by paying for his contributions and allowing him to write freely. He had been forced to leave his previous job at Channel Nepal TV because, he claimed, staff had not been paid for nine months.
"In the case of news reporting, we cannot write independently. Sometimes government pressures, Maoist pressures, corporate pressures and many more pressures prevent us from doing so. When that happens, the norms of news die, which then misleads society."
Free daily newsletter
If you like our news and feature articles, you can sign up to receive our free daily (Mon-Fri) email newsletter (mobile friendly).
