The Representative Office of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) in the Kyrgyz Republic is embarking on a three-year project “Creating a Culture of Investigative Journalism for Further Democratic Reform – Linking Human Rights Organizations, Government Officials and the Media to Promote Change” with the support from the European Union.
The project has several objectives: the first objective is to develop a pool of domestic investigative journalists who, in close cooperation with human rights organizations, will focus on identifying and lighting acute problems in the country.
The second objective is to protect the rights of citizens by strengthening the accountability of the government to civil society on a wide range of issues, including a focus on such topical human rights issues in Kyrgyzstan as: the protection of the rights of children, women and ethnic minorities; freedom of religion, fight against torture and ill-treatment, freedom of speech and others.
The effectiveness of the project will be demonstrated by a comparative analysis of research that will be conducted at the beginning and at the end of project activities.
As part of this project, at the moment, the IWPR explores the level and potential of the cooperation between the media and human rights organizations in Kyrgyzstan. You can participate by filling in the questionnaire on the following link.
To achieve these objectives, the IWPR intends to work closely on five components:
• Training of journalists and human rights activists on effective interaction during investigations;
• Establishment of the cooperation between the media, human rights organizations and government agencies;
• The work of journalists on investigations;
• Encouragement and support for investigative journalists;
• Creation of a permanent platform for cooperation between journalists and human rights activists.
Within these components, 150 journalists and human rights workers will participate in training sessions on the methods of investigative journalism, will learn the basics of effective interaction and will start practical work. Also, reporters and journalism students will receive appropriate training manuals in Russian and Kyrgyz languages.
Investigations of journalists will be rewarded, published in local partner media, as well as on the websites of www.cabar.asia and www.iwpr.net for an international audience.
The IWPR will especially reward the best investigations, according to the results of the republican competition over the next three years.
The key point of the project is to create a vast network of independent media and human rights organizations, aimed at carrying out investigative journalism, called “Coalition of the media and human rights activists for investigative journalism” and “Bureau of Investigative Journalism,” which will become a platform for collaboration, support and professional growth of media professionals.
To build constructive and fruitful discussion of human rights issues that will be addressed during implementation of the project, the IWPR organizes several platforms for dialogue with representatives of government agencies, civil society and journalists.
Also, a series of public lectures with the participation of prominent figures of the country will be organized in major universities, in order to raise awareness of young people in human rights issues in Kyrgyzstan.
The project is designed for three years: January 2015 – December 2017
This initiative is implemented in the framework of two IWPR projects: “Creating a Culture of Investigative Journalism for Further Democratic Reform – Linking Human Rights Organizations, Government Officials and the Media to Promote Change”, funded by the European Union, and ” Strengthening Capacities, Bridging Divides”, supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway.
The Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) is a British non-profit media organization covering the situation and supporting the local media in crisis regions around the world. The IWPR has been working in Kyrgyzstan since 1999.
For more information, please, contact the program manager of the IWPR Office in Kyrgyzstan Meerim Shamudinova: +996 (312) 313097 (ext. 106), meerim@iwpr.net