OSCE-UNICEF youth camp aims to promote Tajik civil society
(OSCE)Students in Tajikistan participating in OSCE-supported training workshops learn how to protect their environment, July 2003. (OSCE) Photo details
GARM, TAJIKISTAN, 24 October 2003 - Forty young people from Tajikistan's Rasht region are attending a joint OSCE-UNICEF camp, which aims at fostering dialogue and participation of students in decision-making on key social, democratic and environmental issues.
"The main goal of the event," said Alexandr Kuzmin, the Head of OSCE Field Office in Garm, "is to teach young people basic principles of civil society and democratic values."
During the ten days the youth camp will run, participants will attend courses on leadership skills, environmental protection, drug prevention, access to education, journalism, as well as problems of trafficking in human beings and migration.
Welcoming the participants, Deputy Head of the Rasht District Hukumat (mayor's office), Mullojon Ahmadov, expressed his gratitude to the organizers.
"Access to youth camps is very important for the Rasht Valley," Mr. Ahmadov said.
"The young generation of Tajikistan is facing several problems due to the limited access to education. This camp provides young people from remote districts with the possibility to gain new skills in participating in public life. It is of great significance that the OSCE supports these events."
The youth camp, which finishes on 31 October, is organized by the Garm Field Office of the OSCE Centre in Dushanbe, the Representative of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Tajikistan, the local non-governmental organization, Garm District Development Committee, and the Rasht District Youth Committees. The latter two selected the 40 participants from five districts (Rasht, Tajikabad, Jirgital, Nurobod and Tavildara) of the Rasht Valley.
"The main goal of the event," said Alexandr Kuzmin, the Head of OSCE Field Office in Garm, "is to teach young people basic principles of civil society and democratic values."
During the ten days the youth camp will run, participants will attend courses on leadership skills, environmental protection, drug prevention, access to education, journalism, as well as problems of trafficking in human beings and migration.
Welcoming the participants, Deputy Head of the Rasht District Hukumat (mayor's office), Mullojon Ahmadov, expressed his gratitude to the organizers.
"Access to youth camps is very important for the Rasht Valley," Mr. Ahmadov said.
"The young generation of Tajikistan is facing several problems due to the limited access to education. This camp provides young people from remote districts with the possibility to gain new skills in participating in public life. It is of great significance that the OSCE supports these events."
The youth camp, which finishes on 31 October, is organized by the Garm Field Office of the OSCE Centre in Dushanbe, the Representative of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Tajikistan, the local non-governmental organization, Garm District Development Committee, and the Rasht District Youth Committees. The latter two selected the 40 participants from five districts (Rasht, Tajikabad, Jirgital, Nurobod and Tavildara) of the Rasht Valley.