"War Games" in Georgia

The exercise was covered by Georgian, Armenian, Azeri and German media with more than 18 TV reports and live broadcasts, as well as over 30 text and radio reports. 

Staged at a Georgian military base in Vaziani near Tbilisi, which had been bombed during the war with Russia in August 2008, the exercise involved some 130 people.

The trainees divided into teams playing United States troops and Somali militiamen. Some who took too many risks in their reporting ended up being "killed".

The exercise, a product of cooperation between IWPR, the Georgian defence ministry and the war game simulation Airsoft Club, was intended to identify the typical challenges facing journalists covering military affairs in the Caucasus - and show the importance of proper training.

Britain's ambassador to Georgia, Denis Keefe, presented certificates to the contest winners, a Georgian TV network.

"Initiatives like this one teach [journalists] to work effectively in difficult situations," he added.

The Black Hawk Down plot centred on an attempt by "American troops" to capture "Somali warlord Mohamed Aideed".

Bacho Gurabanidze from the Georgian TV channel Adjara, who came fourth, said, "Eventually, my desire to collect as much information as possible from the battleground cost me my 'life'.

"During the game, the 'terrorists' took me captive and tortured me before finally gunning me down. Watching the shots of me being 'tortured and killed', as we were editing the report, I felt immensely proud of myself. I thought I was a great journalist, but then when these very same shots prompted the panel of experts to qualify my work as unsatisfactory I understood I'd acted the wrong way.

"I wouldn't have had a chance to see my mistakes if the battle I covered had been a real one."

"The reports show how carelessly the journalists behaved," said Tiko Tsomaia from the Georgian Public Affairs Institute, who sat on the assessment panel. "If it had been a real war, there's a good chance that no one would have come out of it alive to tell the story." 

One mistake, pointed out by the 12-member assessment panel as the most elementary of all, is that some journalists had shown up wearing military uniforms, thereby making themselves targets.

Oleg Panfilov, director of the Moscow-based Centre for Journalism in Extreme Situations, said, "Had they found themselves plunged in a real war, they would have got killed within the first moments after its onset."

Elsewhere, NGOs in the Caucasus acknowledged the important role played by IWPR in trying to get regional authorities to tackle the problems faced by internally displaced persons, IDPs.

IWPR organised a series of conferences and round tables in Yerevan, Tbilisi and three Georgian regions (Shida Kartli, Imerti and Samegrela-Zemo) aimed at raising awareness of IDPs.

The Georgian events were organised with the aim of drafting recommendations for the Tbilisi authorities and international organisations. At the end of the year, a conference is envisaged where NGOs introduce their recommendations to Georgian officials.

In the Yerevan event, more than 45 people took part in a discussion on the issue of refugees in Armenia - a highly emotive issue as it has a bearing on efforts to resolve the Karabakh conflict.

Before the event, IWPR's Caucasus Reporting Service published a series of articles by journalists from Armenia and Nagorny Karabakh about the fate of IDPs.

Davit Hakobian, deputy head of the migration agency at the ministry of territorial administration, presented his government's programme on refugee provision.

"These round tables are very useful. That we are free to ask the officials questions is a great advantage," said Veronika Melikian, representative of the Against Lawlessness NGO.

One of the key problems that emerged was the lack of information and communication between government officials and NGOs dealing with refugees.

"Government officials underline in their public speeches that they are ready to cooperate with non-governmental organisations and are ready to share our recommendations and advice, however no one takes into consideration recommendations of separate NGOs," said Keti Bebiashvili, representing the Young Lawyers Association of Georgia, Gori branch.

"The good will of the local government is very much needed. We are always open for cooperation. That is why I think that this initiative of IWPR to link us and the local government and establish a dialogue is very much welcome."

The vice-governor of the Imereti region Lasha Kiladze said the series of IWPR-organised meetings with NGOs was very important and he looked forward to hearing their proposals to for resolving refugee problems.

"I will participate in every meeting with non-governmental organisations and listen to their recommendations. I am sure we will find the common language and options to improve the living conditions of refugees," he said.