The Department of Information and Mass Communications jointly with UNDP in Kyrgyzstan conducted webinars for journalists of media centers. During three days from 18^th to 20^th of November, 28 journalists from all regions of Kyrgyzstan participated in this online training. The training program was developed considering the necessary skills for journalist of 21st century, working in a converged journalism environment. The webinars were held in Kyrgyz language and covered the following topics: storytelling, writing articles and news, journalistic ethics, the basics of video filming and the basics of working in social networks.

As is known, a year ago, the state regional mass media were reorganized and media centers were created. The regional media centers play a key role in creating and disseminating news and they are not only informative, but also educational in nature. The news can include ideas of unity and tolerance and prevent the spread of fake news.

During the seminars, the trainers shared their experience, knowledge and cases related to local news.  The program included international standards for writing good articles, using people's stories or revealing problems through heroes, discussed the ethics of a journalist, as well as topics such as: hate speech, gender-sensitive and conflict-sensitive approaches to communication, the ethical code of journalists of Kyrgyzstan, the basics of non-linear video editing, the specifics of social networks and, working in them, creating and adapting content for social networks.

In the framework of this activity, the United Nations Development Programme supported the creation of video lessons on the above topics, which will be distributed to all journalists of the media centers. Video lessons are essential for sustainable and independent training of young professionals.

The support for these reforms is carried out within the framework of the UNDP Project "Promoting Kyrgyzstan's Youth Cohesion and Interaction towards Uzbekistan", funded by the UN Peacebuilding Fund, as well as within the framework of the UNDP project "Strengthening Resilience to Violent Extremism in Asia” (STRIVE Asia), funded by the European Union in the framework of EU-UN partnerships.