პროექტის შესახებ
პროექტის შესახებ
- ომისა და მშვიდობის გაშუქების ინსტიტუტი (IWPR) ადგილობრივი თვითმმართველობის არჩევნების გაშუქების მიზნით 30 მაისს–1 ივნისს აამოქმედებს სპეციალურ ექსპერიმენტულ საინფორმაციო ბლოგს geoelection.ge.
- ბლოგის მუშაობაში ტრადიციული მედიის წარმომადგენლებთან ერთად ჩაერთვებიან ბლოგრები/მოქალაქე ჟურნალისტები, რომლებიც ერთობლივად გააშუქებენ საარჩევნო პროცესს თბილისსა და საქართველოს რეგიონებში. ბლოგისთვის ინფორმაციას მოიძიებენ სომეხი და აზერბაიჯანელი ჟურნალისტებიც, რომლებიც საქართველოს IWPR–ის პროექტის ფარგლებში სპეციალურად არჩევნების გაშუქების მიზნით ესტუმრებიან. ასევე ბლოგის მუშაობაში მონაწილეობას მიიღებენ IWPR–ის დევნილთა გადამზადებისა და დასაქმების პროგრამაში ჩართული დევნილები.
- სამი დღის განმავლობაში საინფორმაციო ბლოგზე განთავსდება ტექსტური, ვიდეო, აუდიო და ფოტო მასალა. ბლოგის მუშაობაში ჩართვის საშუალება მიეცემა ყველას, ვინც საინტერესო ინფორმაციას მოიძიებს და მოგვაწვდის ელექტრონულ მისამართზე info@geoelection.ge ან ტელეფონზე: 98 99 70; 99 01 01.
- ექსპერიმენტის მიზანია არა მხოლოდ არჩევნებისა და არჩევნების შემდგომი სიტუაციის გაშუქება, არამედ ტრადიციულ და სამოქალაქო ჟურნალისტიკას შორის ურთიერთსასარგებლო თანამშრომლობის დაწყება და გამოცდილების გაზიარება.
- ბლოგზე მუშაობის დასრულების შემდეგ მოხდება ბლოგერებისა და პროფესიონალი ჟურნალისტების მიერ მოპოვებული მასალების განხილვა. გამოვლინდება და დაჯილდოვდება საუკეთესო ბლოგერი და ჟურნალისტი.
- პროექტი ხორციელდება დიდი ბრიტანეთისა და ნორვეგიის საგარეო საქმეთა სამინისტროების ფინანსური მხარდაჭერით.
Institute for War and Peace Reporting
IWPR is an international media development organization with 19 years’ experience building peace and democracy in challenging environments through free and fair media. Since 1992, IWPR has developed and delivered hundreds of democracy-supported projects in Central, South and East Asia, the Balkans, Africa and the Middle East. Our global organization is made up of three charitable affiliates in the United States, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom—where our editorial mentoring and online news and informational global hub (www.iwpr.net) are located. From 15 field offices, our programs span 25 countries. IWPR-US, a 501(c)(3) organization, is the prime on this application and will work side-by-side with our local office in Tbilisi, a highly regarded Georgian NGO with a proven track record in the region since 1998.
IWPR’s work around the world includes building capacity and skills to and through local outlets by forging partnerships with local CSOs, as well as developing new media solutions and networks. We have particular expertise in linking competing stakeholders to raise the level of debate, awareness and understanding, as demonstrated by our almost two decades of work in Central Asia and the Caucasus. IWPR produces and disseminates information streams to inform, educate and empower individuals and society at large. One example is our 2007-2009 Georgia Regional Media Network support by the U.S. Department of State, DRL, that trained regional journalists in advocacy, media and leadership skills. The program provided more than 200 journalists with practical training and professional accreditation, followed by job placement.
IWPR is highly regarded for our work on human rights, governance and transparency, elections and reform, women and the rule of law. Presently, our work in 25 transitional regions builds local capacity, establishes local institutions and supports practical training and information programs. Our projects are distinguished by innovative use of new media and social networking technologies, coupled with intensive, hands-on training and mentoring approaches. We provide quick impacts leading to long-term sustainable change, often bringing in multiple donors.
IWPR works extensively with NGOs to strengthen communications skills and links with media and public officials. IWPR productions in written, audio and video/TV provide a vital training tool, as well as a platform for local journalists to address key issues of conflict, development and governance. Reports produced with IWPR support are syndicated widely through local media outlets—print and broadcast—and internationally through syndication relationships, most notably the McClatchy features service.
IWPR’s dedicated capacity building initiative strengthens local media institutions from management and editorial training to establishing local radio stations, publications and websites to establishing national news services and agencies.
Currently, our largest program is in Iraq, where we are implementing over $20 million dollars of programming through a range of projects supported by the U.S. Department of State, Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. These include:
Media Development—Building the capacity and infrastructure of a core group of Iraqi media through the promotion of reliable, fact-based reporting and debate on political, governance and development issues.
“Iraqi Rights” TV Human Rights Magazine—Producing and broadcasting bi-weekly TV programming on human rights to improve public engagement on crucial issues.
Women’s Media Initiative—Our longest running program in Iraq, strengthening the voices and position of women in Iraq through leadership training, increased political participation, journalism training, and the production of a radio program for and by women, “The Other Half”, broadcast over the airwaves across the country.
Safety, Security and Legal Protections—Working to reduce the number of deaths and injuries of Iraqi journalists by providing training and support to those who face violence while reporting; and promoting greater awareness of media-related legal issues, providing support to journalists facing undue prosecution by the state.
Understanding and Reporting on Elections in the 18 Governorates—Implementing a country-wide election training, networking and public outreach project that covers all ten provinces of Iraq and provides capacity building and assistance to Iraqi institutions and local media. Our election-focused newspaper Metro, and hour-long radio show Metro Iraq Radio, received rave reviews by the public and local and international sectors. Our one-of-a-kind Elections Watchdog project worked with media and civil society to inform and mobilize the public around the 2010 elections there, making innovative use of new media technology combined with print, radio and video for public outreach.
Institute for War & Peace Reporting in the Caucasus
IWPR has worked across the Caucasus region since 1998, via registered representative offices in Tbilisi, Yerevan and Baku. IWPR carries out media training and mentoring, reporting (print, radio and television) and CSO networking projects with significant public roundtable events and cooperation activities involving local media, NGOs and officials. Our Georgia program has unique regional networks and expertise in building capacity and skills, increasing balanced and in-depth reporting on conflict issues, and enhancing dialogue and debate across a whole range of critical issues.
The locally registered IWPR-Georgia has 10 full-time local staff, based in Georgia and Abkhazia, with the regional headquarters in Tbilisi. In addition, we have an extensive network of partners and collaborators throughout the country and the two unrecognized territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. IWPR has received significant funding for our work in the region from major donor agencies and ministries, including the U.S. Department of State (DRL), the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and European Commission and the Norwegian and Finnish Ministries of Foreign Affairs.
IWPR is well known for our innovative and pioneering work in the region. In 2003 we founded Panorama newspaper, linking Georgian and Abkhaz journalists. The publication was produced in both Georgian and Russian languages and published in Abkhazia and Georgia. Journalists from those regions continue to work for the Caucasus Reporting Services and contribute to a Georgian-Abkhazian joint website (www.regionalreporters.net).
With European Commission support, IWPR has worked in partnership with the Caucasus Institute for Peace, Development and Democracy to support regional newspapers outside the capital, improving their editorial skills, management capacity and financial stability, and establish a network for information sharing and cross-syndication of journalistic reports. The project has worked with newspapers in Ajaria, Imereti, Shida Kartli and Kakheti. We also founded a newspaper, Southern Gates, in Samtskhe-Javakheti, which is published in both Armenian and Georgian.
Another program area, the Cross Caucasus Journalism Network, involves journalists from the North and South Caucasus republics. The project promotes the free flow of information via the internet and media, strengths civil society cooperation and establishes a sustainable network of journalists, media and NGOs through the Caucasus. An extensive training program has been undertaken via workshops and hands-on mentoring in journalism skills, conflict issues, women’s rights and the rights of minorities; publications and dissemination via local media of reports from isolated regions; and civil society dialogue and debate.
Ethnic and religious minority rights and conflict reporting has been one of the main priorities for IWPR’s reporting and training activities in the region. In 2007, we established a large scale network of regional print and radio journalists with funding from the U.S. Department of State (DRL). The outputs were broadcast over seven radio stations. The network continued after the end of the project and has established and registered its own foundation to continue the work.
IWPR continues to deliver solutions to the media problems in the region. In light of the unabated tension in the conflict zones and with a view to reduce the risk of casualties in any new conflict, IWPR and Georgia’s Ministry of Defense jointly implemented a special training program on conflict reporting and media safety. The initiative was undertaken as part of the FCO-funded Building Bridges/Building Capacity in the South Caucasus project. A Conflict Reporting School was established and recently graduated its first group of students, trained intensively on how to work during a conflict situation.
During the last two years, IWPR-Georgia has collaborated with more than 200 print, radio and television journalists from Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia and produced over 500 articles and radio reports. Within the framework of IWPR projects, a blog covering the 2008 August War in South Ossetia between Georgia and Russia provide immensely popular—and was intently followed by the U.S. Department of State and other governments. In some instances, IWPR reporting was the only close-up and on-the-ground reporting coming out of the conflict at certain points. In just two weeks following the launch of the blog, 130,000 hits were registered and the blog quickly became the only source of balanced information covering the conflict from both sides.
Our work strengthens the NGO sector and promotes sustainable solutions to problems faced, in particular, by refugees and ethnic minorities by improving coordination between the government and active members of civil society. To achieve this, IWPR has worked with more than 50 NGOs in Tbilisi and Georgia’s provincial regions. We have organized dozens of meetings between local CSOs and high ranking state officials for the purpose of improving communication and information sharing and for establishing cooperative approaches for solving the problems of refuges and IDPs, ethnic and religious minorities, ecological migrants and other disadvantaged groups. IWPR has helped to setup networks of regional NGOs to improve cooperation and lobbying capacity. An example of this is the current work to establish a sustainable network of regional NGOs working on IDP issues. IWPR also aims to establish a network of NGOs working on human rights issues with a focus on the problems faced by ethnic and religious minorities.
One of the priorities of IWPR-Georgia is the strengthening of the NGO sector by improving networking and forging a productive relationship with the Georgian media—mainstream and independent. We have begun a program of intensive trainings for NGOs on media relations and are facilitating meetings and conferences between them and state officials; we also provide assistance to a dozen media partners and freelance journalists in Tbilisi, provincial areas and the breakaway republic of Georgia. The network highlights problems that have for years remained unaddressed, advocating for government action. NGO activists are monitoring the implementation of pledges made by government officials and report on conferences held by government bodies. These reports and analyses will be published by participating media outlets—print, radio and television. The network gives high priority to helping newly established NGOs. In cooperation with IWPR, the network will conduct a series of training workshops to bolster the capacity of NGOs.
In other programming, over the past few years, IWPR has organized field trips for nearly 200 television, radio and print journalists to visit refugee communities and camps, as well as to visit the country’s administrative borders with South Ossetia and Abkhazia and territories where ethnic and religious minorities, ecological migrants and repatriates are living. These visits have resulted in hundreds of TV and radio reports and articles in the Georgian, Armenian and Azerbaijani media, raising awareness of problems and forcing government attention and action.
