OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe organizes World Press Freedom Day international conference
On 5 May 2022, journalists and media experts from Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Lithuania, Germany and the United Kingdom gathered in Dushanbe for an international conference to celebrate World Press Freedom Day.
The conference held in-person and online, gathered some 150 Tajik and international journalists, high-ranking representatives of the governments, parliaments and civil society from ten countries with the majority able to attend and participate in Dushanbe.
The event was organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe with the support of the European Union Delegation to Tajikistan, the United Nations Resident Coordinator’s Office in Tajikistan, the UNESCO Almaty Office and the Public Organization Khoma. Also supporting the event were the Tajik Media Council, Internews Network Tajikistan and the embassies of France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States of America in the Republic of Tajikistan.
After a two-year gap due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the conference participants focused on issues of media freedom and journalistic community aimed at celebrating the achievements of media professionals from Tajikistan, and the wider region. The conference also provided an action platform for partners and stakeholders to come together and propose solutions for the most pressing challenges of the digital era.
One of the most important outcomes of the conference was a set of recommendations adopted by participants regarding freedom of the media in the country, advocating for, inter alia: Offering comprehensive, institutional solutions to media community challenges such as tackling misinformation and the, overall, declining trust in media; Improving media literacy amongst the population of the Republic of Tajikistan; Encouraging government agencies, public and commercial organizations to strengthen co-operation with governmental and non-governmental media, to better inform the public of Tajikistan about important events in the political, social and economic spheres; Strengthening the capacity of press offices of government bodies by raising qualifications and expanding skills of their professional staff; and, Ensuring open access to information about legal entities.
The conference in Dushanbe was included in the framework of UNESCO’s global World Press Freedom Day celebrations.