Muhabbat Murodova, Tajikistan

Muhabbat Murodova, a mother of four, was born in 1974 to a working-class family in the city of Khujand, Tajikistan's second-largest city. She studied language and literature at Khujand State University before working as a newsreader at Chakhonoro TV and radio. Since 1998, she has been at the television station SM-1, where she often reports on social issues. Murodova also has experience in opinion journalism and for the past five years has hosted a talk show called "The Tender Sun."

Her finalist entry, "Twist of fate," explores one of the most pressing social issues affecting land-locked Tajikistan, the poorest country in Central Asia. Hundreds of thousands of Tajik men leave the country for work every year. Most end up in Russia, where they work in construction, agriculture and maintenance. While conditions there are difficult, and increasingly even fatal, they can earn up to four times what they could at home.

Murodova tackles this issue by focusing on the women these men leave behind, often without any form of support whatsoever. In traditional Tajik society, women or families without a husband or father are looked down upon. This is even though almost a fifth of the population lives abroad and the country is turning into a society of women. It is a complex problem that incorporates women's rights and economic realities, and likely won't change soon. It is estimated that remittances from abroad made up nearly half of Tajikistan's GDP last year.