Newsroom
OSCE roundtable in Tajikistan focused on young people's access to information
GARM 13 March 2003
GARM, TAJIKISTAN, 13 March 2003 - Problems of young people relating to access to information and to the media were the main theme of a two-day OSCE roundtable organized in the Rasht Valley, eastern Tajikistan.
This first roundtable on access to media for youth in the area, which ended today, was organized by the Garm Field Office of the OSCE Centre in Dushanbe. Heads of Departments of Education from Tajikabad, Nurobod (former Darband), Jirgital and Garm Districts, representatives of youth organizations, as well as school principals and pupils of the Rasht Valley gathered in the Garm Field Office.
Alexander Kuzmin, Head of the Garm Field Office, made a presentation on an OSCE project on "access to the newspaper Gulchin for young people", to which 324 schools of the Rasht Valley subscribe. Gulchin is distributed in the most remote and inaccessable areas of the Valley - Tajikabad, Nurobod, Jirgital, Tavildara and Garm districts. The project is implemented with the financial support of the Government of Norway.
Gulchin's editor-in-chief, Talat Nigorova, said that the paper "will try to fill an information vacuum in the region and will open a window of information for youth of the districts."
"Access to information is one of the most important issues in the Rasht Valley. It is also high time to think about the improvement of education quality," said Davlatpocho Mirzoeva, Deputy Head of Garm District. "Our young people need to be up-to-date with the latest news and developments in the country. From this point of view, the project is well-timed."
The Head of the Education Department of Nurobod district, Mullochaeva Kurbongul, emphasized the poor access of the young people to national media: "They are eager to read newspapers, but currently they are not able to buy them. On the other hand, national media do not take into account the real needs of the youth of the rural areas," she said. "It is important to note that the young population make up 70 per cent of the whole population of the Rasht valley. Our youth feel themselves left behind the process of the development of Tajikistan."
Participants in the roundtable said the main issues to be highlighted in the newspaper should include access of girls to higher education, gender equality, drug abuse, civil society, culture, human rights and trafficking in human beings.
This first roundtable on access to media for youth in the area, which ended today, was organized by the Garm Field Office of the OSCE Centre in Dushanbe. Heads of Departments of Education from Tajikabad, Nurobod (former Darband), Jirgital and Garm Districts, representatives of youth organizations, as well as school principals and pupils of the Rasht Valley gathered in the Garm Field Office.
Alexander Kuzmin, Head of the Garm Field Office, made a presentation on an OSCE project on "access to the newspaper Gulchin for young people", to which 324 schools of the Rasht Valley subscribe. Gulchin is distributed in the most remote and inaccessable areas of the Valley - Tajikabad, Nurobod, Jirgital, Tavildara and Garm districts. The project is implemented with the financial support of the Government of Norway.
Gulchin's editor-in-chief, Talat Nigorova, said that the paper "will try to fill an information vacuum in the region and will open a window of information for youth of the districts."
"Access to information is one of the most important issues in the Rasht Valley. It is also high time to think about the improvement of education quality," said Davlatpocho Mirzoeva, Deputy Head of Garm District. "Our young people need to be up-to-date with the latest news and developments in the country. From this point of view, the project is well-timed."
The Head of the Education Department of Nurobod district, Mullochaeva Kurbongul, emphasized the poor access of the young people to national media: "They are eager to read newspapers, but currently they are not able to buy them. On the other hand, national media do not take into account the real needs of the youth of the rural areas," she said. "It is important to note that the young population make up 70 per cent of the whole population of the Rasht valley. Our youth feel themselves left behind the process of the development of Tajikistan."
Participants in the roundtable said the main issues to be highlighted in the newspaper should include access of girls to higher education, gender equality, drug abuse, civil society, culture, human rights and trafficking in human beings.