DUSHANBE, April 16, Asia-Plus – The media competition dedicated to a World Press Freedom Day is going on in Tajikistan.
The competition has been staged by Tajik Journalists’ Union and a number of independent media organizations of Tajikistan under financial support of the Tajik Branch of Open Society/Assistance Foundation (OSI/AF) and some other organizations.
Rukhshona Olimova, media program coordinator, Tajik Branch of OSI/AF, said that the goal of the competition is to promote further development and active involvement of mass media in Tajikistan and increase professional skills of journalists in covering problems facing society.
According to her, the contest jury will consider only informational and photo materials that were published from January 1 to April 20, 2007. Journalists are participating in the following categories: economic reforms; social development and democratization of society.
World Press Freedom Day is a day designated by the United Nations to raise awareness of the importance of freedom of the press and to remind governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression enshrined under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 1993, the day is celebrated each year on May 3, the anniversary of the Declaration of Windhoek, a statement of free press principles put together by African newspaper journalists in 1991.
UNESCO marks World Press Freedom Day by conferring the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize on a deserving individual, organization or institution that has made an outstanding contribution to the defense and/or promotion of press freedom anywhere in the world, especially when this has been achieved in the face of danger.
