In September, Executive Director, Rend Al-Rahim, appeared on three programs to discuss Iraq and promote IF's mission. On September 6, Ms. Al-Rahim appeared on Jim Zoghby's radio program, "Viewpoint". Ms. Al-Rahim also commented on General Petraeus' testimony in congress on BBC World News on September 12 and appeared on September 15th's edition of CNN's This Week at War. To read a transcript of the broadcast, please follow the link below.

From September 8 - 10, the Iraq Foundation held a meeting for 12 members of the Human Rights Defenders Network (HRDN) in Istanbul, Turkey. The meeting brought together HRDN members, IF staff, and regional experts to discuss the Network's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) and agree on a long term strategic plan and a short term working plan. The second part of the meeting centered on reporting and documenting training.

IF partnered with the Association Libanaise Pour l'Education et la Formation (ALEF), a human rights organization based in Lebanon, to help build the capacities of the HRDN in the areas of reporting and documentation, and develop them to become in line with international UN standards. As part of the meeting, ALEF evaluated reports prepared by the HRDN and made recommendations on ways in which the reporting could be improved. The meeting was part of IF's continued efforts to support the network and build the capacity of its members. The HRDN was created as an outcome of a training that was completed in December, 06. The network includes human rights organizations based in Diyala, Kirkuk, Mosul, Kut, Missan, Baghfaf, Samawa, and Najaf.

The Human Rights Defenders Network (HRDN) published its seventh newsletter in September. These newsletters report on the human rights situation in at least 12 different governorates of Iraq each month. Formed in December 2006 by the Iraq Foundation, HRDN monitors, documents, and advocates for human rights in Iraq's governorates. Published in Arabic, HRDN's monthly newsletters are available on our website.