Central Asia: Oct ‘08

After several months of relative quiet in our Central Asia offices, IWPR began hiring new staff in September with the award of a new grant, so that reporting and training activities were well under way by the end of October.



Under a three-year programme funded by the Norwegian ministry of foreign affairs, our country teams are generating news analysis pieces written by local journalists who have undergone IWPR training. As always, the idea is that these articles are republished in the local press and online media, mainly in Russian.



Because these printed reports are not always accessible in remoter areas, we have added radio programming as a new element in our work. Initially, in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, we have designed a format for short radio slots presenting our signature product: analysis and comment on key political and social themes of the day.



To ensure that people in rural areas tune in, there will be Kyrgyz- and Tajik-language versions of the programmes as well as Russian, which is more widely spoken in the towns.



In the first programme, a reporter looks at the controversial question of whether graduates from Islamic colleges should be allowed to teach in Kyrgyzstan’s state schools. Other reports discuss the health problems that affect newborn babies because of the mother's lifestyle and failure to seek ante-natal care, and whether daily life in the Kyrgyz capital will improve now that proper buses are beginning to replace the chaotic, packed minibuses that throng the city.



To help us branch out into radio, we have been joined by two broadcast journalists with extensive experience behind them, Kaarmanbek Kuluev in Bishkek and Zebo Tajibaeva in Dushanbe.



Our print/online reporting, meanwhile, has been strengthened with the arrival of Aida Kasymalieva, who like Kaarmanbek, comes from Azattyk, the Kyrgyz-language service of RFE/RL.



We were sad to say goodbye to two staff members who have played a pivotal role in building up IWPR’s activities in the region over the last few years. Programme Director Kumar Bekbolotov has taken up the post of head of the Open Society Institute in Kyrgyzstan. And Elina Karakulova, who was chief editor for all five Central Asian republics, is now based in Washington, DC.