When Azizbek Ashuorov, a young lawyer in Kyrgyzstan learned he would receive the UNHCR Nansen Award, he was overwhelmed and afraid of the media interest that was to be expected and how he would cope with that.


The Nansen award is one of the most prestigious prizes for humanitarian work in the world and triggers enormous international media coverage each year, so Mr. Ashurov was petrified. Used to speaking in Russian and to fellow experts, he was not confident explaining complex issues in a simple manner in English.
Therefore, UNHCR tasked Transcultural Campaigning to train and support him. And what a good “student” he turned out to be! Two rounds of 3-day training sessions with Melita H. Sunjic in his hometown Osh and in Geneva took away his fear of public speaking and revealed his hidden rhetoric talents.
Watch him as an inspiring and charming speaker at the award ceremony and as an inspiring interview partner on SABC: