Certificates for Media bo Khalk participants

During an official ceremony in Erbil 16 participants of Media bo Khalk (Media for People, Al-Alam al-nas) were presented with their certificates. The sixteen have finished eight months of training in journalism, including internships at Iraqi media outlets.

The ceremony was attended by members of the press, editors in chief, politicians, diplomats and others. KRG-minister of Culture Kawa Mahmoud held a speech about the importance of professional media for the development of democracy in his country. Ari Harsin spoke for KDP and mentioned how important it is for Kurds and Arabs in Iraq to work together, stressing the importance of projects like Media bo Khalk for the whole of Iraq.



The chargé d´affairs ad interim at the Dutch embassy in Baghdad, Lars Tummers, explained to the audience that the Dutch are good at bringing quality media to other countries, and Michael Mussi, Provincial Action Officer at the US Reconstruction Team in Erbil drew a picture of the role of the media in a society.



Video´s made by the participants were shown, in which they spoke of their past eight months as a time of great change in their lives, and of having found a new family with the trainers and the other students.



IMCK intends to start a second edition of Media bo Khalk in September 2010, and is presently looking for the funds to make this possible, as IMCK-director Judit Neurink told the audience. She thanked the American, Dutch, British governments and former KRG-prime minister Nerchirvan Barzani for having funded the first Media bo Khalk, which lead to the birth of a new generation of young professional Iraqi journalists. Five of the students have already been offered a job.