INDEPENDENT MEDIA CENTRE KURDISTAN

Wednesday June 27, IMCK organized a presentation and a discussion panel at Erbil based Aras Publishers for the new book 'Iraqi Treasures' (Kunuz al-Iraq), which explores the subject of the natural resources in the country. The discussion panel consisted out of Avin Omer, a member of the oil and gas committee in the Kurdistan parliament, IMKC-trainer, journalist and supervisor of 'Iraqi Treasures' Khaled Suleiman, and advisor for the region's cabinet of ministers Ahmed Mufti.  The discussion was mainly on transparancy. On the one hand journalists cannot get the information on oil issues because the Oil Ministry in Erbil does not have a spokesman and Minister Ashti Hawrami is difficult to catch for journalists. Also the year reports of the Ministry are in English, as are the oil contracts. Against that was said that journalists should learn languages, and that they have to work to get and understand information, and they have to work to get and understand...

On the 24th of March, seventeen journalists from all over Iraq finished the third workshop of three on Natural Resources, that IMCK organised in cooperation with Mesalla and Kirkuk Journalists Group. Participants that finalized all three workshops were presented with a certificate. The workshop focused among others on transparency, details about contracts used in the oil and gas industry in Iraq, the water situation in Iraq, and on economical, environmental and social-political implications of the winning of natural resources. The results from the workshop are to be found on a special website . IMCK will choose the best story and publish that on its website and Facebook page. Trainers were James Gavin, Ben Lando and Khaled Suleiman, who is also editing the stories. The project was funded by Norwegian People's Aid.

Twenty journalists from all over Iraq joined international trainer James Gavin in Erbil for the final of three workshops on Natural Resources. The workshop gives detailed information about oil, gas and water issues in Iraq. The five day workshop started on March 10, 2012 with a guest lecture by Ben Lando, who leads the Iraqi Oil Report website in Baghdad.He informs the participants about oil- and gas-contracts as they are used in Iraq. The project, in which IMCK partners with Mesalah and Kirkuk Journalists Group is funded by Norwegian Peoples Aid (NPA). Earlier workshops took place in October and December 2011. The stories produced during the workshop will be published on the special website made for the project: Iraqi Treasures.com