Romania: Defying Kompromat
“I couldn’t be bribed or stopped with death threats, but maybe I was supposed to be embarrassed enough by intimate pictures to be silenced.”
Ugandan Women Risk Their Lives to Access Abortion
“Many girls are dying because we have chosen to ignore them.”
Afghanistan: “I Have Learned to Never Give Up”
What helps me keep going is my belief in our mission to empower women journalists to report on what is happening under the Taleban.
The Afghan Women Journalists Defying the Taleban
Against all odds and despite constant danger, a brave few continue to report.
The Struggle Starts by Speaking Out
Giving voice and driving change takes sustained, collective effort.
“The Space for Abuse Seems Endless”
Gender disinformation aims to create a hostile environment for women with the goal of shaming, intimidating, silencing and excluding them.
Women in Central Asia Lead on Climate Change
Campaigners tackle widespread scepticism and lack of understanding of crisis.
Afghanistan: “I Don’t Want to Live. I Want to Die”
Two decades of efforts to protect women and girls has been systematically dismantled.
Tuesday, 5 March ‘24
This week’s overview of key events and links to essential reading.
Covering Coronavirus in Cuba
Regime mismanagement and fake news continues to fuel the crisis.
Malala's IWPR Roots
Global pioneer for girls’ education began her campaigning work with flagship Pakistan project.
Fighting Corruption in Ukraine
Specialist guide proving key to stamping out graft.
Focus on Nigeria: Dayo Aiyetan
Founder and executive director of the International Centre for Investigative Reporting in Nigeria, and IWPR partner on a project bringing media and civil society together to fight human rights abuses.
Focus on Central Asia: Ilkham Umarahunov
IWPR project manager who coordinated a project aimed at preventing violent extremism and training religious leaders in how to use social media to communicate with young people.
Focus on Lebanon: Vanessa Bassil
The founder & president of the Media Association for Peace in Lebanon which works with IWPR on Aswat Horra, a regional freedom of expression project.
Central Asia: The Power of Conflict and Protest
Online event assesses the regional lessons and consequences of political dispute.
The Karabakh Conflict: Rising Above the Fray
IWPR discussion facilitates rare opportunity for dialogue.
Syria: Empowering Women Through Journalism
“We fight a criminal regime as well as society’s restrictions.”
IWPR Women’s Prize for Journalism
IWPR’s inaugural award for outstanding journalism recognises the work of our network of women reporters worldwide. Working in often challenging environments, these journalists face additional threats such as harassment, gender-based violence and systemic misogyny.
"What was significant for all three of us [judges] was how the stories stayed with us - not just for the amazing yet harrowing insights into these women’s lives but the courage it took for them to keep going, to experience the harshness in which they lived and to tell the world about it through their stories."
World Press Freedom Day 2024
On World Press Freedom Day we focus on local journalists facing myriad challenges in the tireless pursuit of truth and their enduring efforts to bring meaningful change.
Highlights from IWPR’s Consortium to Support Independent Journalism in Latin America (CAPIR).
An investigation by ContraCorriente, one of the investigative units IWPR supports in Honduras, revealed abuses including robbery, torture and kidnappings allegedly inflicted on citizens by police officers. The investigation also addressed how the state of emergency, in place since 2022, has allowed these abuses to occur with impunity. The authorities deny responsibility, claiming that organised criminal groups are using replica uniforms to pose as police officers.
A transnational publication by the investigative units of Plaza Pública and Criterio media revealed the huge extent of Asian cigarette smuggling in northern Central America. In addition to the health problems and millions of dollars lost to tax evasion, this also finances organised crime trafficking of drugs, weapons and humans. The investigation highlighted the failure of institutional efforts to stop this problem, aggravated by the complicity of officials who help falsify documents.
A story by the IWPR beneficiaries Guardiana and La Nube media outlets revealed the unauthorised sale of "medical preparations" to treat mental illnesses such as depression in a market in Cochabamba, one of Bolivia's largest cities. The story showed how products were marketed without information about their ingredients, including unlicensed natural remedies from Peru and Brazil. In response, the Cochabamba department of health announced it would increase the number of police operatives in the market where these products are sold.
Highlights from IWPR’s Central Asia network of analysis and investigations.
The construction of the Qosh Tepa canal in Afghanistan is causing water shortages in southern Uzbekistan, while in Kyrgyzstan the government is considering the construction of a nuclear power plant. In Kazakstan, conservation activists are working to save the Central Asian tortoise from extinction.
Elsewhere, CABAR delves into the efforts by Central Asian authorities to detect, reduce and prevent statelessness across the region.
Ukraine Justice Report
Countering Disinformation in Moldova
Ukraine War Diary by Anthony Borden
Democratic accountability comes from journalists investigating their own societies – IWPR provides a much needed platform and support for those reporting from some of the most dangerous and difficult places in the world.
Disinformation is a major global threat , especially in conflict and post-conflict areas. IWPR performs a vital mission, building up local voices as a bulwark against this challenge.
IWPR fills a critical gap by helping local journalists to focus on human rights and justice issues. In the process, it contributes to democratic transitions, and demonstrates that the best war reporting is not about military conflict, but human consequences.