Media4Democracy Kicks-Off its third round of fellowship with media leaders from Kyrgyzstan

25.09.2019
Copenhagen

A cohort of five Fellows from Kyrgyzstan is starting an intensive fellowship programme in Denmark this month. The programme aims to build their skills and empower them to serve as change agents to strengthen media pluralism and freedom of expression in their home country.

The EU Delegation to Kyrgyzstan selected the Fellows in cooperation with Media4Democracy for the third implementation of the customised Fellowship Programme Strengthening Media Institutions in Support of Media Pluralismfollowing a successful pilot project with a group of Fellows from Tanzania and a second programme with Fellows from Rwanda.

group photo

In May 2019, Media4Democracy Fellowship Coordinators, Mogens Blicher Bjerregård and Henrik Ahrens, conducted a rapid assessment of media institutions’ leaders in Kyrgyzstan, and supported the EU Delegation in selecting the following Fellows:

  • Ms Aisuluu Tekimbaeva – Capital Media Company / “Media.Act” Public Union
  • Ms Begaim Usenova – Media Policy Institute
  • Mr Bektur Osmonbaev – Legal Clinic Adilet
  • Ms Gulmira Esengeldieva – Investigative Journalism Foundation
  • Ms Nurzhan Musaeva – Media Development Centre

During the next three weeks, the Fellows will follow a challenging curriculum of leadership training, project development and management of media institutions, and take part in a series of meetings with a wide range of professionals working for media institutions and media outlets in Denmark. The Fellows are hosted at the Danish Union of Journalists, an institution that enables and supports media freedom and pluralism in Denmark and internationally.

During the programme, the Fellows will develop essential new skills and gain knowledge and understanding of how to build strong media organisations and establish and maintain platforms for effective advocacy in Kyrgyzstan.

Media4Democracy Advocacy and Media Expert Angela Weis who joined the opening session in Copenhagen said: It is great to witness the start of a programme where selected leaders across the media sector in Kyrgyzstan are brought together with the opportunity to make a real difference in their country in terms of media pluralism and freedom of expression.’

After completing the programme in Copenhagen, the Fellows will receive several months of remote mentoring, during which they will work on their own projects to catalyse change in their organisations.