A group of female journalists working in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, have set up their own website to get stories on justice and rights issues out to a wider audience.

IWPR has joined up with a local media development organisation, the Northern Uganda Media Club, NUMEC, to launch a year-long apprenticeship scheme for three of its reporters in northern Uganda.

Ten IWPR trainee reporters from the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, participated in an innovative journalism training session in Goma organised in partnership with Voices of Africa Media Foundation, VOAMF, in May.

Following the completion of internships for two Congolese journalists in The Hague, the producer of IWPR’s radio programme in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, has returned to the region to spearhead upcoming developments in the project.

Organisations advancing the rights of women and others who were uprooted by the conflict in northern Uganda have told IWPR of the crucial support that its Facing Justice radio programme is providing to those now seeking to rebuild their lives.

An IWPR trained-journalist from the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, had the opportunity to learn about the workings of the International Criminal Court, ICC, as well as improve her journalistic skills when she visited The Hague for a month-long internship in January.

A three-week training and mentoring programme for IWPR’s broadcast journalists in northern Uganda helped to prepare the ground for the re-launch in November of Facing Justice, a biweekly radio programme on justice and human rights issues in the region.

Two female radio journalists working for a Goma-based station have significantly improved their skills and gained in confidence as a result of IWPR training in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the director of the station.

IWPR’s coverage of Thomas Kwoyelo, an alleged Ugandan rebel commander who was held for more than a year in Gulu jail without charge, played a part in expediting his transfer to Kampala to face trial on war crimes charges, according to a prospective parliamentary candidate.

An IWPR course has helped women journalists from the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, learn how to cover human rights abuses, in particular sexual violence that continues to blight the country.

IWPR’s coverage of young political activists in Katanga who intimidate politicians during parliamentary sessions has been hailed as an example of how articles published in the international press can make a difference in the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC.

Listeners in Sudan have told how, after six months on air, IWPR’s radio programme on justice issues in Sudan has made a real difference to their lives.

Ugandans listeners eager to vent their views after listening to IWPR show on international justice.

IWPR has produced a three-part series on sexual violence in Darfur for the radio programme Fi al Mizan (On the Scale), in cooperation with Radio Dabanga, a radio station run by Darfuri journalists in The Netherlands which broadcasts to over one million listeners in Sudan and eastern Chad. 

Project staff travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, in November to give a three-day training course on operating in a conflict zone for women journalists in North Kivu province.

IWPR senior reporter, Simon Jennings, travelled to Gulu in northern Uganda along with IWPR's Uganda programme coordinator, Wairagala Wakabi, to train a group of broadcast journalists on reporting justice and human rights issues. 

As part of its outreach work, IWPR Netherlands went to the city of Bukavu in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, to talk to people on the ground about the impact of the Thomas Lubanga trial.

In early August, an IWPR special investigation into suspected corruption relating to a long-running reconstruction project in war-torn northern Uganda sparked a demonstration in the town of Lira.

The series of stories on the alleged corruption sabotaging the redevelopment of the north were produced by journalists who had just attended an IWPR investigative reporting seminar in Uganda.