DUSHANBE, April 16, Asia-Plus  -- Independent School of Journalism “Tajikistan – 21st Century” on Tuesday hosted a roundtable meeting to discuss issues related to a role of media in coverage of problems facing children with physical disabilities.  

The meeting, staged by charitable medical organization Zdorovye (Health) and the School, brought together representatives from media, public associations and international organizations as well as lecturers with higher educational institutions, human rights activist and parents of children with physical disabilities.    

Manuals for media employees were presented on the sidelines of the meeting.  The manual titled “Children’s Disability in the Mirror of Mass Media” was worked out by an expert group comprising lecturers with higher educational institutions, journalists and specialists in the children’s disability issues.  It contains practical advices on ways of coverage of the mentioned problems in media and solution of them with using media potentials.  

To provide more efficient coverage of these problems in media the meeting participants recommended creating special items on children with physical disabilities in various Tajik media as well as establishing subject publications and websites.  

The meeting is part of the Children with Physical Disabilities in the Mirror of Mass Media project, which is being implementation under financial support of the European Commission Delegation in Tajikistan.  The project provides for conducting a series of seminars and master classes for 60 practicing journalists in Dushanbe, Khujand, and Qurghon Teppa, as well as organizing competitions among Tajik journalists on covering problems facing children with physical disabilities, etc.