The activities of the IWPR Office in Tajikistan and the specialized portal Belief.cabar.asia were presented during the discussion.
Conference “Cooperation of research centers and the media in the formation of the information sphere: achievements and problems.”
On April 30, the Center for Islamic Studies under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan held a scientific-practical conference entitled “Cooperation of scientific centers and the media in shaping the information sphere: achievements and problems”, which was attended by representatives of the Executive Office of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, the Union of Journalists of Tajikistan departments, IWPR offices in Tajikistan and a number of public organizations in the country.
It was important to highlight the challenges and threats faced by the countries of Central Asia, including the threat of the spread of violent extremist ideologies. During the conference, presentations were made on “Information flows and violent extremism in Central Asia”, “A review of religious issues in local media: achievements, shortcomings, risks and problems”, “Problems of extremism in the media”, etc.
Faizullo Barotzoda, Director of the Center for Islamic Studies under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, paid special attention to regional cooperation. He said that “Tajikistan is a reliable partner in Central Asia that […] is interested in establishing multi-faceted and comprehensive regional cooperation to ensure political stability and socio-economic development.” According to Barotzod, the results of such cooperation may increase the security of the information in Tajikistan, a correct assessment of political processes and the prevention of the spread of extremist materials. Zinatullo Ismoilzoda, chairman of the Journalists Union of Tajikistan, agreed with the ideas expressed during the conference, and added that the result of cooperation between scientific institutions and the media can also be the creation of a favorable informational environment in which civic positions are formed.
An employee of the IWPR office in Tajikistan, Gulafshon Sokieva, presented her report on “Religious issues in the media”. Her presentation provided the conference participants with an opportunity to the better understanding of issues faced by journalists in Tajikistan, highlighting the sensitive topics of religious freedom, tolerance and the fight against the spread of violent extremist ideologies.
In her presentation, Sokieva mentioned about the activities of the IWPR office in Tajikistan, outlined the main achievements, presented a specialized platform Belief.cabar.asia to report the situation of religious freedom in Central Asia and invited conference participants to collaborate with IWPR in filling out the platform with high-quality content.
After discussing various aspects of cooperation between research centers and the media in Tajikistan, the participants supported the idea of promoting and strengthening the interaction between research centers and the media.
Meetings are held within the IWPR project “Stability in Central Asia through Open Dialogue”
Read more about the conference here.