DUSHANBE, May 7, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- Tajik Office of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) intends to extend a regional network of practicing journalists from remote districts of Tajikistan, representative of the IWPR Dushanbe Office, Ms. Lola Olimova, said in an interview with Asia-Plus.

For this purpose, the IWPR Dushanbe Office organized a two-day training for regional journalists on international standards of journalism in Dushanbe on May 5-6.  The training seminar was organized in cooperation with the Eurasia Foundation of Central Asia (EFCA), which implements the Tajik Regional Network of Correspondents project.

14 journalists from Dushanbe, Kulob, Qurghon Teppa, Khujand, Khorog, Panjakent and Isfara participated in the training that was conducted by skilled trainer and known journalists from Kyrgyzstan, Ms. Gulnura Toraliyeva.

The training is part of the IWPR program titled “Central Asia: Building Central Asian Human Rights Protection and Education through the Media” and funded by the European Commission, Ms. Olimova said.

IWPR builds democracy at the frontlines of conflict and change through the power of professional journalism.  IWPR programs provide intensive hands-on training, extensive reporting and publishing, and ambitious initiatives to build the capacity of local media.  Supporting peace-building, development and the rule of law, IWPR gives responsible local media a voice.

The Institute now exists as an international network for media development, with not for- profit divisions in Europe, the US and Africa supporting training and capacity-building programs for local journalism, with field programs in more than two dozen countries.

IWPR is an international network of four organizations, which are governed by boards of senior journalists, peace-building experts, regional specialists and business professionals.