DUSHANBE, September 15, 2009, Asia-Plus -- An awards ceremony was held in Tajik Journalists’ Union in Dushanbe today for the winners of the competition on production of journalist materials in the framework of the project, Mobilizing the Media in Support of Women’s and Children’s Right in Central Asia.

This two-year project is implemented by the BBC World Service Trust under financial support of the European Commission.  The focus of the project is to galvanize the media’s capacity to safeguard the rights of women and children.  The project trains local journalists, editors, and media managers to produce publications and broadcast programs on issues related to women and children.  The partners of the project are Irex Europe (France), Eurasia Media Centre from Yekaterinburg, Russia, and three Central Asian organizations, the Osh Media Resource Centre in Kyrgyzstan, Bereke from Kazakhstan and Nansmit (the National Association of Independent Media of Tajikistan) in Tajikistan.

As a result of participation in a series of practical training on production of print materials, radio reporting and documentaries in March-July this year, journalists from Tajik print and electronic media have prepared 16 features, 12 radio reports and four documentaries about various aspects of life of women and children in Central Asia.

Journalists touched upon related problems in their works that were considered by the contest jury consisting of representatives from the BBC World Service Trust.

Ms. Tahmina Ubaidulloyev, a correspondent for the magazine Firouza, won the contest in the “Print Media” category and Ms. Farzona Abdulqaisova working for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) in Tajikistan won the contest in the “Radio Reporting” category.