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Sarpa is an independent media project about public participation in Uzbekistan. In a world where reposts have become a new political force, we want to direct our audience’s attention to the things that really matter: the achievements and challenges of local activists, opportunities for volunteering, problems requiring public participation and the tools to solve them.

Media Resources for Strengthening Civil Society

We want to live in a country where people enjoy their rights, not just read about them in the Constitution. Through online tools – from social networks to special software – we work with the right to participation of people in the life of the state and society. Recognizing that this right does not exist in a vacuum and that all human rights are interconnected and indivisible, we seek to spread knowledge about them through digital tools and publicize cases of their violation.

We seek to increase the visibility of local activists, NGOs and grassroots groups, researchers, journalists working in the areas of human rights and gender studies. At Sarpa, we aim to amplify the voices of activists and their allies, engage a new generation through civic participation, and educate young people about their rights and opportunities to influence decision-making in the country.

Sarpa is a grassroots project independent of government and business, created by women journalists and activists from Tashkent. We are proudly an all-women team.

What we’ve already done

Sarpa started with an instagram page in 2021 – at the time we were writing about many different social issues and, admittedly, had no clear strategy for action. With new knowledge, expertise and allies, we set out to utilize the power of social media to amplify the voices of activists and spread awareness of human rights.

Over 4 years of work, we have released more than a thousand posts on our instagram and telegram platforms, organized about 20 offline events: lectures, discussions, film screenings, exhibitions and workshops, traveled to animal shelters and came as observers to courts. Now our materials are published in such sections as columns, announcements and news, analytical materials. We are happy to work together with local and international initiatives and media projects – you can propose your idea to sarpatas@protonmail.com.

Our work principles

Personal involvement. We are not external observers – we ourselves are part of civil society. We were born and live in Uzbekistan. In our work we rely on the knowledge, experience and reality of those who live and act here and now.

Our materials are based not only on research, but also on personal practices of participation: filing applications, organizing initiatives, volunteering, participating in elections and referendums.

Autonomy from state and affiliated structures. We strive to prevent the instrumentalization of the human rights agenda and currently do not cooperate with state structures or organizations affiliated with the state – including oligarchic companies and formally independent institutions acting in the interests of the state. We focus on developing relationships with independent NGOs, unregistered initiatives, small businesses and individual citizens.

Media responsibility. As a community media, we adhere to journalistic standards. We use inclusive language, rely on research and data, do not use hate speech, and do not write clickbait. We try to be contextualized in our texts and speak respectfully about the people and communities we write about.

Non-discrimination. We recognize the dignity of every human being and do not discriminate on the basis of sex, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, disability, age, social origin, religion, language or other identities.