Project Developments – 31 December 2006
Project Developments – 31 December 2006
Key
Quarterly Accomplishments: During the first two
months of this project, IWPR put in place staffing for this project, prepared
training materials and consulted with local stakeholders. A summary of the key accomplishments are:
- Recruited and concluded staffing
for the project, including all local staff and the international
trainer/editor;
- Produced training manual in Arabic;
- Finalized streamlining the
work-plan, including a detailed schedule for training and production;
- Completed recruiting and selecting
trainees for the advanced training course
- Initiated consultation process with
NGO leaders, editors and relevant governmental bodies;
- Started work on producing the first
newsletter.
Consultation with experts and local key players
As part of the preparation for this endeavour, IWPR
initiated a consultation process with key local players in this area, such as
civil society leaders, media management and editors, members of Iraqi
parliament, representatives of local governments and representatives of the
Iraqi Integrity Commission. Implemented
via personal interviews and meetings, the consultations will continue throughout
the implementation of the project.
The consultations provide:
- A better understanding
of local governances and the role it plays in service delivery;
- An in-depth
understanding of the methods and strategies currently used by local media to
cover such issues;
- Enhanced networking
capacity of the project;
- Debate on project
issues;
- Assistance in preparing
for dissemination of information;
- A better understanding
of the mechanisms used for combating corruption;
- A contribution of
experiences in developing training materials.
Production of training material
During the three years of continued IWPR training and
reporting in and from
we have developed a series of training material in Arabic, Kurdish and English,
including an advanced training handbook for local reporting in crisis areas in
cooperation with
and
in
Specific for this project, IWPR developed a special training module. During this quarter, the handbook was
translated into Arabic to function as both a training handbook and a reference
book for trainees. The final edit of the training manual will be conducted in
the first week of January in anticipation of training latter in the month.
Trainee recruitment and selection of
participant
Via our extensive contact network, IWPR advertised for
participation of this project. The candidates were selected through a
filtration process. All participants must:
- have substantial
journalistic experience
- be actively working for
at least one outlet
- have undergone the basic
skills training provided by IWPR
- pass a general knowledge
test
- pass a language test;
Arabic or Kurdish, depending on region
- pass an in-depth
personal interview
Through the above process a number of journalists were
selected and will participate in this project. In addition, a number of
anti-corruption activists and civil society actors recommended by IRI’s field
office will participate in this training course.
Final preparation for the production
of the first Iraq Good Governance Reader
As part of the consultation process, a number of Iraqi
key players contributed opinion articles covering the theory and practice of
good governance, corruption and transparency in
- Rend Rahim (
- Bakhtyar Amin (former Human Rights
minister),
- Luai Baldawi (editor of Almutammar),
- Twana Osman (editor of Hawlati),
- Hussein Aladeli (head of Watan Research Org),
- Mishkat Moumin (former minister of environment) and
others.
