INDEPENDENT MEDIA CENTRE KURDISTAN

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

Communications director Diego Perez from Shell Iraq informed participants of the Natural Resources Workshop in Erbil on details about the work of Shell in Iraq, oil contracts and other interesting details. The workshop, which is a project of IMCK and NPA, runs for five days. Twenty journalists from all over Iraq take part, of whom about half women.

IMCK and Norwegian Peoples Aid started on December 10, 2011 the second of three workshops on Natural Resources. The training lasts five days and takes place in the Safeer Hotel in Erbil. From the first group of thirty participants, twenty were selected to take part. Trainers are James Gavin, an expert in reporting on oil and economics, and IMCK co-trainer Kholoud Alamary. Experts are invited in the mornings to inform the journalists about the subjects related to oil and water. Afternoons are spent on writing stories and getting information on how to improve journalistic skills. The best stories will be edited and published on the 'Iraqi Treasures' website opened for this project. Apart from IMCK and NPA, also Mesalah and Kirkuk Journalists Group are involved in the project. A third workshop is planned for March.