Youth capacities in media and information literacy for peacebuilding enhanced in Osh, Kyrgyzstan

On 17-18 July 2026, in the city of Osh, the Agency for Quality Assurance in Education 'EdNet', conducted a two-day training for trainers from the youth organisation "Youth of Osh " on the module 'Media and Information Literacy (MIL)', as part of the joint UNICEF, UNFPA and UNESCO entitled 'Empowering Youth to Building Bridges for Social Cohesion', supported by the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund.

The training session was attended by 23 future trainers in Media and Information Literacy from the Osh and Jalal-Abad regions, as well as from the northern regions of Kyrgyzstan. The aim of the training was to prepare trainers to teach children in the project's pilot educational organisations. During the two-day training session, participants gained a detailed understanding of the module's content, teaching materials, lesson structure and teaching methods. The training was conducted in two languages - Kyrgyz and Russian - to ensure the trainers' effective and comfortable participation.

The programme included interactive lectures, practical exercises, group discussions and case studies. Particular emphasis was placed on developing critical thinking skills, analysing information, recognising misleading content, and the safe use of digital technologies, including artificial intelligence tools.

The project under which the training was held aims to tackle social polarisation within the youth information landscape in Kyrgyzstan. The main idea is to equip young people, including teenagers from different social, ethnic and religious groups, with peacebuilding skills, constructive communication and cooperation skills and, in particular, Media and Information Literacy.

Youth of Osh is a local youth organisation with an understanding of the local context and well-established links with communities in southern Kyrgyzstan, enabling it to act as a key link between UN project initiatives and young people at the local level. It is precisely on the basis of the experience and expertise that Youth of Osh has gained during the project that a strategy is being developed for the further education and engagement of young people in processes aimed at social cohesion, intergenerational dialogue and combating hate speech in the information environment.