DUSHANBE , January 13, Asia-Plus - A five-day training on basics of journalism has been conducted for youth in the northern district of Asht ( Sughd Province ). 

The event was held within the social project of the community development program “The Peaceful Communities Initiatives (PCI)” funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).    

According to information from the Mercy Corps field office in Khujand, the main objective of the project was in bridging information gap and filling in information vacuum among young people in Asht District and spread of information about the PCI program within communities through the youth newspaper “Donoyak”.  

“The idea of conducting the training has occurred after a summer training camp for youth from border communities of Asht District was organized,” said the source, noting youth participating in the summer training camp have begun actively participating in the implementation of the project on the establishment of the “Donoyak” newspaper.  

During the training teenagers learnt how to use journalism genres, and obtained skills on writing and interviewing and making reports.  

On the last day of the training, its participants have been given an opportunity to familiarize themselves with creative and technical basis of the editorial office of the “Leninabadskay Pravda” in Khujand.  

Through the PCI community development program, Mercy Corps has focused on conflict prevention in multi-ethnic and trans-border communities in the Ferghana Valley region.