PARIS -- The Kyrgyz nongovernmental organization Citizens Against Corruption is one of the winners of the French Liberty, Equality, and Brotherhood Award for 2009, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.
Tolekan Ismailova, the NGO's chairwoman, told RFE/RL that she will participate in the ceremony in Paris today, which French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner is due to attend.
Ismailova's NGO received the award for its activities in defense of human rights and for its project "civic journalism on behalf of vulnerable people."
The prestigious French award will be given to five NGOs this year: Citizens Against Corruption (Kyrgyzstan), Network (Palestine), the Center for Legal and Social Studies (Argentina), Children's Voice (Nepal), and Save the Generation (Chechnya).
The leader of Save the Generation, Zarema Sadulayeva, and her husband Alik Dzhabrailov, were abducted and killed by unknown assailants in August.
Their organization helped children who had been physically and emotionally scarred by the hostilities in Chechnya.