Huwaida Kalthoum is the only investigative journalist in the Syrian Arab Republic. She works for one of the country’s most popular daily papers, Tishreen, with a circulation of approximately 200,000. As a journalist, she is also exceptional because she covers population and women’s issues. In a country where the press generally reflects conservative values, Ms. Kalthoum has pioneered subjects that were either ignored or taboo.

Kalthoum says she decided to cover women’s issues "because this is an underreported area. Women are at a distinct disadvantage in most Muslim countries. Women’s choices are limited here; we are not yet equal to men," she says.

Kalthoum says that UNFPA has been extremely helpful by providing her with background material on population, reproductive health, family planning and, particularly, women’s issues."I don’t have degrees in women’s studies or population. I do all my own research, which is quite extensive."

"My editors have confidence in me," Kalthoum says, although she often has to go to some lengths to try to get articles published on sensitive subjects. Recently, Kalthoum wrote a series of articles on women’s crimes, which she later made into a book. In researching the subject, she visited women in prisons and also interviewed prostitutes. The result was a picture of Syrian society the public had never before seen.

"My editors would not publish the articles on prostitution, though they did print the other pieces on women as criminals. They simply couldn’t handle the prostitution articles."

In another series of investigative pieces on mental hospitals, she went undercover as a cleaning woman. She took photos with a hidden camera. "I was able to expose malpractice and mistreatment of inmates," she says. "This was one of my biggest stories when it broke. And it resulted in a government inquiry into the state of the country’s mental institutions."

Kalthoum now wants to set up an NGO for women. "My idea is to form an NGO that caters to women who need help, all women, including prostitutes, criminals, the mentally ill and abused wives, among others," she says. "If I can help one person, I feel good about it. I guess this is one reason why I research and write the kinds of pieces I do. If I can accomplish anything, I hope my articles shake people up and make them think about issues they might not otherwise consider."

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