DUSHANBE, June 4, Asia-Plus -- On a two-day visit to Khujand last week the British Ambassador, Mr. Graeme Loten, familiarized himself with the work of various aspects of civil society in the city, press release issued by the UK Embassy in Dushanbe on June 3 said.  

Mr. Loten visited various non-governmental organizations such as the Human Rights Center, which advises clients on how to achieve their rights, and ''Dasti Madad'' which supports children from poor backgrounds through the education system. He also met officials from the OSCE field office who briefed him on the achievements of various civil society organizations in Khujand.

Mr. Loten also met the leaders of the political parties in Khujand and took part in a lively discussion on the role of political parties in modern Tajikistan.

The media also featured strongly in this visit and the Ambassador was impressed by the number of non-state owned media outlets, especially newspapers and TV stations, which exist in the Sughd oblast.

"In any free and democratic country there is an important role to be played by civil society," said Mr. Loten at the end of his visit. "Here in Khujand there are so many people who are working to improve the situation in Tajikistan, for example enhancing the skills of journalists, assisting individuals in understand their rights under the law, or bringing young people back into education. I was very impressed by the amount of good work that civil society is able to do here."

This was the sixth time that the British Ambassador has visited Khujand officially during his term of office in Tajikistan.