INDEPENDENT MEDIA CENTRE KURDISTAN

International trainer Ruth Hopkins returned to Kurdistan to train a group of Kurdish journalists on human rights. With IMCK senior trainer Khidher Domle she offers a 5 day workshop on human rights issues and international law. The participants come from all over Iraqi Kurdistan. The training is meant to help journalists to specialize in the subject. A second workshop, for journalists from Arab speaking parts of Iraq will be held in December. The project is funded by the Swiss embassy in Amman. Pictures are to be found on Facebook .

IMCK senior trainer Khidher Domle started the second part of IMCK's ToT on Social Media for Journalists in Erbil. On November 14, 2012 he started a two day training with four of the participants to teach them how to convey their knowledge to others. Together with international trainer Marco Visser he will make these four participants ready to co-train in workshops IMCK's is going to organise in the rest of Iraq in 2013. The project is funded by the Dutch NGO Hivos. More pictures on Facebook.

What does it cost to leave the country with the help of a human smuggler, and what are the results of that for the life of the family of the person who leaves? What does it mean for a country when someone who had a good education leaves? Is life in Europe really so much better than in Kurdistan - how much does one earn there, what is the cost of living and what is the comparison with the situation in Kurdistan? All questions that were covered during the one day workshop on the Economics of Illegal Immigration, that IMCK and STATT organised on October 24, 2012 in Duhok. International trainer Maaike Veen talked about the statistics and backgrounds. Goran Sabah gave a briefing for STATT on the statistics of (illegal) immigration. IMCK senior trainer Khidher Domle was the moderator of the day, and he worked with the 18 participants - mostly young journalists - on how to write stories on the subject.

After two successful workshops in Sulaymaniya about the national heritage in Iraq, IMCK organized a third one in Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan. The goal of the course was to inform a group of journalists about the necessity to raise awareness among the Iraqi population for the preservation of the national heritage. It is of great importance that journalists have a better understanding of the problems that historical sites in Iraq face and how institutions try to preserve artefacts. The participants visited the Iraqi Institute for the Conservation of Antiquities and Heritage and attended a lecture by senior-trainer Khidher Domle in the IMCK training hall. National heritage Iraq has one of the oldest cultural histories in the world. Iraq is where the Ancient Mesopotamian civilizations were, whose legacy went on to influence and shape the civilizations of the Old World. Therefore Iraq has a very rich heritage. Ashur , Hatra , and the archaeological city of Samarra are three...

    In close cooperation with the Iraqi Institute for the Conservation of Antiquities and Heritage in Erbil, IMCK has organized two workshops of a day to inform journalists about the Kurdish Iraqi heritage, and to stimulate them to think about the subject in a journalistic way. On the 4th of April, Director of the Suleymaniya Museum gave a lecture and IMCK trainer Khidher Domle gave a training on the importance of the historical heritage for journalists. How to report on the national heritage, how to find out what is still left and where, how to find out what the policy is of the authorities in Kurdistan, how to inform the public about the importance of their national heritage and about the ways to stop buildings from crumbling still more. For more pictures visit our Facebook .  

The second part of the workshop to improve the media of the KDP organisations for students, youths, scientists and women has been finalized on the second of April 2012. In total twelve participants received an IMCK certificate.  IMCK offered two workshops of three days in Erbil to make the media of the KDP organisations more attractive for the target groups they are meant for. During the first workshop the focus was on the current quality of the publications, and to asses what the participants needed. Through giving them tips and lectures IMCK improved the skills of the attendees for the second workshop. The second set of three days was conducted to evaluate the changes since the first workshop.   IMCK's senior trainers Khidher Domle and Ako Mohammed worked with the participants on improving the quality of stories, and choosing stories that are more interesting for their readers. One of the KDP-participants said: "I learned the importance of short-news, journal...

The media makers for the KDP organisations for students, youth, scientists and women gathered in the Safeer Hotel in Erbil on Saturday March 17, 2012 for the first part of a workshop that should help them improve their media. IMCK is offering them two workshops of 3 days each to make their media more attractive for the target groups they are meant for. IMCK's senior trainers Khidher Domle and Ako Mohammed will work with them on improving the quality of stories, and choosing stories that are more interesting for their readers. The opening of the workshop was conducted by the head of the KDP organisations, Sasan Awny, together with IMCK director Judit Neurink. The second part of the project will be conducted in April, to review the results of the first workshop and offer more advise for further improvement.

Editors in chief of Iraqi media visited on March 14th the workshop 'Women on the front pages!'. IMCK and international trainer Harriet Salm presented a two newspapers (with two front pages) in Kurdish and Arabic covering only women issues made by the female participants. The main goal was to convince and make the editors in chief aware of the importance of women issues on the front pages of newspapers. Women as an extra target group (almost 60 percent of all Iraqi's is female) can be the cause of an increase in revenues by selling more copies. The editors in chief or representatives present on the last day of the workshop were Karwan Anwar (PUK media), Cheman Musa (Avro), Abdul Razaq (Paymner), Luqman Ghafur (Kurdistani Nwe) and Adnan Said Husen (Rudaw). After seven days of training thirteen female participants were rewarded with an IMCK certificate. They learned how to write for a broader public, and how to recognize women stories that are worthy of the front...

International trainer Harriet Salm started a seven day training for female Iraqi journalists, to get more stories about women on the front pages of their papers. Even though almost 60 percent of all Iraqi's is female, only few stories about then can be found in the first (and most read) pages of the media. The journalists will learn how to write for a broader public, and how to recognize women stories that are worthy of the front pages. The workshop started on March 7, 2012 at the traininghall of IMCK in Sulaymaniya. The 14 participants for the course come from all over Iraq, and the training is taught in Kurdish and Arabic. Co-trainers Koral Noori and Khidher Domle will make sure all the participants understand and digest the material offered. To convince the editors in chief that women stories are important for their media, and will help them sell more copies as they will be able to reach an extra target group, they will be invited for the last day of the training. The ...

Women newspaper Rewan works with IMCK trainer Khidher Domle on making their content more interesting for a bigger group of readers. On January 5, 2012, Domle spent a day with the editorial staff in the library of the women centre in Sulaymaniya. How to attract readers, how to make stories more interesting, how to choose subjects and how to handle them in a way that will interest the readers were the main subjects to be covered.

IMCK senior trainer Khidher Domle started on July 25,2011 in the Public Library in Rania training a group of seventeen local journalists on basic skills in journalism. For the first morning session, he was assisted by IMCK senior trainer Judit Neurink. The participants work for local media or as a correspondent for Kurdish media. This project is a cooperation between IMCK and MWOD, Media Work Development Organisation. The three day training will focus on civil journalism: reporting for people about people. How to make Kurdish media attractive for more readers, target groups, news, sources, interview - all will be covered. Domle will be seconded on day 2 and 3 from IMCK trainer Shwan Mohammed (editor in chief of Awene newspaper).