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Dear Friends,
In this issue, we would like to highlight
some of the Iraq Foundation's (IF) recent
accomplishments and activities. In September,
the Foundation's Executive Director Rend
Al-Rahim appeared on BBC Arabic to share her
expertise and promote IF's mission.
We are pleased to announce the launch of a
broadcast campaign on Iraqi radio as part of
the Anti Corruption and Transparency Project.
IF also began training Iraqi widows in three
centers in Baghdad and Basra as part of the
Widows Empowerment Project. In addition to
these exciting activities, IF staff met with a
considerable number of government officials
and various human rights activists to foster
support for the Human Rights Advocacy Project.
As always, should you have any questions
about our activities, please do not hesitate
to contact us.
Sincerely,
Joseph Sandor
Communication Officer
Iraq Foundation
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IF in the Media |
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Executive Director Rend Al-Rahim appeared on
the September 5th edition of BBC News Late
Update to discuss the current situation
in Iraq. Broadcast in Arabic, this live program reaches Arab viewers worldwide.
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IF Broadcasts Radio Programs throughout Iraq |
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As part of the second phase of the
Anti
Corruption and Transparency Project
(ACT), IF started broadcasting radio spots on
September 15, 2008. The spots are aimed at
raising awareness about corruption and what
it entails, and promoting transparency. The
60 second spots are being broadcast on
Al-Iraqiyya Radio station. Initially these
spots will run twice daily. From the 19th to
the end of November, the spots will be
broadcast once a day at 9:55am (6:55 GMT).
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IF launches training programs for widows in Baghdad and Basra |
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IF Trains Widows in Baghdad
On September 15, IF started the first cycle
of trainings in the Rasafa District of
Baghdad as part of the Widows
Empowerment Program (WEP). Meeting twice
a week at the Al-Mustansiriya Institute,
which also hosted the opening ceremony for
the WEP program last month, 25 widows will
receive training on democracy and women's
rights education in addition to learning
employable skills. On September 16, an
opening ceremony was held in the Al-Karkh
District of Baghdad at the Mansour Institute
to celebrate the launch of WEP training in
that district. IF invited MP Ala Talabani to
open the Karkh training ceremony as well as
Ms. Madiha Al-Mousawi. Ms. Talabani
addressed the widows and congratulated them
on participating in the program. In her
capacity as Chair of the Committee for Civil
Society Organizations, Ms. Talabani promised
the widows job opportunities and support from
various government ministries. The first
cycle of WEP training in Al-Karkh will take
place twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Each center will train 25 widows in the
first cycle.
During the first part of the training cycle,
all widows participating in the WEP program's
Baghdad training centers will receive
education in computer literacy, business
English, Democracy and women's rights. In
addition to continuing education on democracy
and women's rights, following the first half
of the training cycle, the program
will cover bookkeeping and childcare. The
last two weeks of each program will be
dedicated to developing the widows'
entrepreneurial skills.
IF Launches Training Program in Basra
On September 25, IF launched its WEP training
program for widows in Basra. An opening
ceremony was held on that day to celibate the
start of this training, which was held in the
Zubair Training Center in Basra. Ms. Sakna
Al-Maliki, the Chair of the Women's Committee
in the Municipal Council of Zubair, as well
as a Member of the Provincial Council of
Basra attended the ceremony, which launched
the WEP training for 135 widows for the first
cycle. 67 widows for Al-Zubair center and 68
widows for Al-Qurna center where the training
will start early October.
Due to the differing needs of widows in the
rural areas of Basra, the WEP training
program will consist of literacy and sewing
skills training in addition to democracy and
women's rights education. Training sessions
will meet twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
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IF Works with Government Institutions and Civil Society to Promote Human Rights |
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During the month of September, IF started
broadening its efforts to reach out to
government institutions as well as the civil
society in order to publicize the HRAI
project and seek their support. IF's HRAI
team in Iraq met with a considerable number
of government officials and various human
rights activists and was able to obtain the
support of many stakeholders including the
Ministry of Human Rights, the Human Rights
committee in Parliament and Baghdad's
provincial council.
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