IWPR Tajikistan presented its activities and thematic portal Belief.cabar.asia
On April 30, the Center for Islamic Studies under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan held research to practice conference “Cooperation of Research Centers and Media for Information Sphere Formation: Achievements and Problems”. The representatives of the Executive Office of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, Union of Journalists of Tajikistan, ministries and state institutions, IWPR Tajikistan and number of other public organizations of the country took part in the conference.
The conference participants paid special attention to the issue of reporting on the challenges and threats faced by the countries of Central Asia, including the problem of propaganda of violent extremism ideologies. The reports delivered during the conference included “Information Flows and Violent Extremism in Central Asia”, “Reporting of Religious Issues in Local Media: Achievements, Deficiencies, Risks and Problems”, “Problems of Extremism Media Reporting” and others.
Faizullo Barotzoda, Director of the Center for Islamic Studies under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan underscored the importance of the regional cooperation. He stated: “Tajikistan is a trusted partner of the countries of Central Asia, which […] share an interest of creating multidimensional and comprehensive regional cooperation to guarantee political stability and socio-economic development”. According to Barotzoda, such a cooperation may result in a better protected information sphere of Tajikistan, adequate assessment of political processes and prevention of the distribution of the extremist propaganda materials.
Zinatullo Ismoilzoda, Chairman of the Union of Jounalists of Tajikistan, agreed with these statements and added, that the cooperation between think tanks and media may also result in a creation of information sphere favoring the formation of social stances.
IWPR Tajikistan Program Coordinator Gulafshon Soqueva delivered report “Media Reporting on Religious Issues”. Her speech presented the conference participants with an opportunity to deepen their knowledge of the problems and challenges journalists of Tajikistan face while reporting on the sensitive issues related to freedom of religion or belief, tolerance, efforts to counter violent extremism.
In her presentation, Soqieva told about the activities of IWPR Tajikistan, presented its major achievements and Belief.cabar.asia thematic platform for reporting on the religious freedom situation in the countries of Central Asia. She also invited the conference participants to cooperate with IWPR in contributing to platform’shigh-quality content.
Having discussed various aspects of cooperation between the think tanks and media of Tajikistan, the conference participants agreed to further support and promote the collaboration between the research institutes and media.
For more on the conducted conference, click here.