Sakar Maan, one of the activists that lead the initiative, inside the Iraqi airforce plane holding some of the letters about to be dropped over Mosul.
Sakar Maan, one of the activists that lead the initiative, inside the Iraqi airforce plane holding some of the letters about to be dropped over Mosul. © IWPR
Training session in social media for imams in Kyzylorda, a city in south-central Kazakstan.
Training session in social media for imams in Kyzylorda, a city in south-central Kazakstan. © CABAR/IWPR
A woman wearing a face mask reads a newspaper in Havana, Cuba on July 29, 2020.
A woman wearing a face mask reads a newspaper in Havana, Cuba on July 29, 2020. © YAMIL LAGE/AFP via Getty Images
Myanmar youths browsing their Facebook page at an internet shop in Yangon.
Myanmar youths browsing their Facebook page at an internet shop in Yangon. © SAI AUNG MAIN/AFP via Getty Images
Anti-government protesters in Kiev calling for ousting of President Viktor Yanukovych over corruption and an abandoned trade agreement with the European Union, February 2014.
Anti-government protesters in Kiev calling for ousting of President Viktor Yanukovych over corruption and an abandoned trade agreement with the European Union, February 2014. © Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images
Malala Yousafzai gives a speech at an event at Barber Institute of Fine Art, November 2015 in Birmingham, England.
Malala Yousafzai gives a speech at an event at Barber Institute of Fine Art, November 2015 in Birmingham, England. © Richard Stonehouse/Getty Images
Stop FGM illustration.
Stop FGM illustration. © Art-skvortsova

Four Million Love Letters to Mosul

IWPR helped organise a mass airdrop of messages of solidarity from ordinary Iraqis to residents of Mosul suffering under Islamic State (IS) occupation.

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We never heard of such thing during a war; usually airplanes drop bombs and [this] airplane is dropping love letters.

Iraqi citizen from Baghdad

Giving Voice

Central Asia: Imams Turn Influencers

IWPR is training a new generation of social media influencers across Central Asia to spread tolerance and counter violent extremism.

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I was able to persuade families that it was a good thing to give their girls an education.

Yusufhon Zakaria

A 38-year-old Kyrgyz imam

Giving Voice

Covering Coronavirus in Cuba

IWPR’s network of reporters in Cuba are defying one of the most repressive media environments in the world to expose mass government disinformation over the Covid-19 crisis.

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These stories can be presented as the ultimate testimonies of the difficult times experienced by all Cubans.

IWPR contributor from Cuba

Giving voice

OUR MISSION

IWPR gives voice to people at the frontlines of conflict and transition to help them drive change

Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Giving Voice, Driving Change

Fighting Corruption in Ukraine

A handbook produced by IWPR’s partners in Ukraine has become the go-to text for the country’s main anti-corruption body.

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I keep it on my desk as a challenge for myself and my colleagues

Oleksandr Novikov

Head of Ukraine’s National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NAPC)

Driving Change

Malala’s IWPR Roots

Nobel Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai began her campaigning work as a 12-year-old IWPR trainee in a Pakistani programme empowering young people through public debate and dialogue.

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In IWPR's Open Minds, we students learned how to express ourselves and the problems of others through the media. We learned so much in the trainings.

Malala Yousafzai

Pakistani activist for female education and Nobel Prize laureate

Driving Change

Georgia: FGM Banned After IWPR Investigation

The Georgian government criminalised female genital mutilation (FGM) following an IWPR investigation that revealed the practice was ongoing in the east of the country.

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The Koran does not say that circumcision is a duty.

Yasin Aliyev

Mufti of Georgia´s Muslims Administration

Driving Change

SPOTLIGHT: TEN YEARS ON FROM TAHRIR SQUARE

Freedom of Expression in the Middle East

Ten years ago, a wave of protest swept the Middle East and north Africa. Launched with an eyewitness account from Egypt’s Tahrir Square, IWPR’s Arab Spring reporting project featured voices from across the region; journalists, human rights defenders, activists and ordinary people caught up in a time of extraordinary change.
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Women cheer in Tahrir Square after it is announced that President Hosni Mubarak was giving up power on Feburary 11, 2011 in Cairo, Egypt.
Women cheer in Tahrir Square after it is announced that President Hosni Mubarak was giving up power on Feburary 11, 2011 in Cairo, Egypt. © Chris Hondros/Getty Images
A Tunisian journalist holds a TV frame on April 25, 2012 during a sit-in outside the municipal theatre in Tunis to protesting silencing Tunisian Television journalists.
A Tunisian journalist holds a TV frame on April 25, 2012 during a sit-in outside the municipal theatre in Tunis to protesting silencing Tunisian Television journalists. © Fethi Belaid/AFP via Getty Images
Tunisian journalists of Assabah daily hold signs calling for freedom of the press during a protest in Tunis on September 11, 2012.
Tunisian journalists of Assabah daily hold signs calling for freedom of the press during a protest in Tunis on September 11, 2012. © Khalil/AFP/Getty Images
Candle light vigil to remember journalist Jamal Khashoggi outside the Saudi Arabia consulate on October 25, 2018 in Istanbul, Turkey.
Candle light vigil to remember journalist Jamal Khashoggi outside the Saudi Arabia consulate on October 25, 2018 in Istanbul, Turkey. © Chris McGrath/Getty Images
Libyan journalists protest to denounce violence against journalists, on January 20, 2019 in the Libyan capital Tripoli.
Libyan journalists protest to denounce violence against journalists, on January 20, 2019 in the Libyan capital Tripoli. © Mahmud Turkia/AFP via Getty Images
Anti-government protesters wave flags and demonstrate at Pearl Roundabout on February 20, 2011 in Manama, Bahrain.
Anti-government protesters wave flags and demonstrate at Pearl Roundabout on February 20, 2011 in Manama, Bahrain. © John Moore/Getty Images
Protesters listen to speeches bout their hopes and plans for the future government on May 03, 2019 in Khartoum, Sudan. Thousands of demonstrators continued their mass sit-in outside military headquarters in Khartoum to call on the country's military rulers to cede control.
Protesters listen to speeches bout their hopes and plans for the future government on May 03, 2019 in Khartoum, Sudan. Thousands of demonstrators continued their mass sit-in outside military headquarters in Khartoum to call on the country's military rulers to cede control. © David Degner/Getty Images

Why Local Voices Matter

The real heroes are those on the ground, fighting to bring truth to light.
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"Always when I think of press freedom I think of my colleague Jamal Khashoggi... Jamal’s work is not over – it lives on in the spirit of every reporter working to bring truth to light."

Janine di Giovanni
Janine di Giovanni
Senior Fellow at Yale University

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2021: The New Global Concern

Against the loss of life and economic devastation suffered in the pandemic, the world can at least take hope from science and the emerging vaccines. Yet another “new normal” has emerged with long-term consequences potentially even more dangerous – disinformation.
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Myanmar youths browsing Facebook pages at an internet shop in Yangon. Facebook has been heavily criticised over failures to control hate speech and misinformation in Myanmar.
Myanmar youths browsing Facebook pages at an internet shop in Yangon. Facebook has been heavily criticised over failures to control hate speech and misinformation in Myanmar. © Sai Aung Main/AFP via Getty Images

"Driven by state powers and extremist operators, and fuelled by unregulated, conflict-driving social media, disinformation spreads even more quickly than a virus."

Anthony Borden
Anthony Borden
IWPR Founder & Executive Director

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.

Lindsey Hilsum

International Editor, Channel 4 News

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.

Dr Karin von Hippel

Director General, Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies

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.

Samantha Power

Former United States Ambassador to the United Nations; Pulitzer Prize-winning author

Covering Coronavirus in Cuba

IWPR’s network of reporters in Cuba are defying one of the most repressive media environments in the world to expose mass government disinformation over the Covid-19 crisis.
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A woman wearing a face mask walks in Havana on September 14, 2020.
A woman wearing a face mask walks in Havana on September 14, 2020. © Yamil Lage/AFP via Getty Images
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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.

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Karabakh: Hatred and Euphoria Are Fuelling Madness

Independent, dissenting Azerbaijani voices have never been so ostracised.
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editor's picks

Malala at age 12 talks about taking part in IWPR's Open Minds Pakistan project.

Malala's IWPR Roots

Nobel Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai began her campaigning work as a 12-year-old IWPR trainee in a Pakistani programme empowering young people through public debate and dialogue.
Read more
Project Highlights
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 Nigeria: Dayo Aiyetan
The founder & president of the Media Association for Peace in Lebanon which works with IWPR on Aswat Horra, a regional freedom of expression project.
Focus on Lebanon: Vanessa Bassil
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 Central Asia: Ilkham Umarahunov
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IWPR's journalism illustrated by stunning photography thanks to support from GettyImages.

Pigeons fly after being fed by Syrians in the courtyard of the Omayad mosque October 18, 2002 in Damascus, Syria.
Pigeons fly after being fed by Syrians in the courtyard of the Omayad mosque October 18, 2002 in Damascus, Syria. © Chris Hondros/Getty Images
Iraqi protesters gather at Tahrir square during ongoing anti-government demonstrations in the capital Baghdad on October 31, 2019.
Iraqi protesters gather at Tahrir square during ongoing anti-government demonstrations in the capital Baghdad on October 31, 2019. © Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP via Getty Images
Rohingya refugees walk across fields at dusk after crossing the border from Myanmar on September 09, 2017 in Gundum, Bangladesh.
Rohingya refugees walk across fields at dusk after crossing the border from Myanmar on September 09, 2017 in Gundum, Bangladesh. © Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
A journalist walks through smoke after violence broke out between pro-Russian activist and pro-government supporters during a rally and march on April 28, 2014 in Donetsk, Ukraine.
A journalist walks through smoke after violence broke out between pro-Russian activist and pro-government supporters during a rally and march on April 28, 2014 in Donetsk, Ukraine. © Scott Olson/Getty Images
Paula Bronstein/Getty Images
Paula Bronstein/Getty Images © Paula Bronstein/Getty Images
Displaced Syrian girls wear face masks decorated by artists during a COVID-19 awareness campaign at the Bardaqli camp in Syria's Idlib province, on April 20, 2020.
Displaced Syrian girls wear face masks decorated by artists during a COVID-19 awareness campaign at the Bardaqli camp in Syria's Idlib province, on April 20, 2020. © AAREF WATAD/AFP via Getty Images
A young woman talks on her mobile phone as she walks past a mural depicting (L-R) Cuban Comunist Party founder Julio Antonio Mella and Cuban revolutionary leaders Camilo Cienfuegos and Che Guevara in the Habana Vieja neighborhood January 24, 2015 in Havana, Cuba.
A young woman talks on her mobile phone as she walks past a mural depicting (L-R) Cuban Comunist Party founder Julio Antonio Mella and Cuban revolutionary leaders Camilo Cienfuegos and Che Guevara in the Habana Vieja neighborhood January 24, 2015 in Havana, Cuba. © Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
A fire burns in a hardware store after a rocket attack caused the building to catch fire on October 3, 2020 in Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh.
A fire burns in a hardware store after a rocket attack caused the building to catch fire on October 3, 2020 in Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh. © Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images
Northern Iraqi Kurds Hendrin Usman (L) and Ubeid Hasen look out a window of their house adorned with doves June 16, 2003 in a village near Erbil, Iraq.
Northern Iraqi Kurds Hendrin Usman (L) and Ubeid Hasen look out a window of their house adorned with doves June 16, 2003 in a village near Erbil, Iraq. © Mario Tama/Getty Images
Refugees wait near their shelters in the village of Tongo, in the hills outside Goma, on November 4, 2008 in North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of Congo.
Refugees wait near their shelters in the village of Tongo, in the hills outside Goma, on November 4, 2008 in North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of Congo. © Uriel Sinai/Getty Images
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