Kabul 2006 Training

On November 19, 2006, the Crimes of War Project, in partnership with the Killid Group, successfully implemented a journalism training workshop for 23 local journalists Afghanistan on international humanitarian law and human rights in order to increase responsible, reliable reporting on justice and complex political issues. The 23 journalists came from 13 different independent local media organizations and included 5 five journalists from the provinces of Baghlan, Ghazni, Logar, Herat, and Jalalabad.

Journalism trainers included Roy Gutman, Chair of the Board of the Crimes of War Project and foreign editor of McClatchy Newspaper Group; Anthony Dworkin, Executive Director of the Crimes of War Project; Mujeeb Khalvatgar, Executive Director of Internews/Nai; Richard Bennett, Chief Human Rights Officer with the United Nations Mission in Afghanistan; and, Niamatullah Ibrahimi, former director of Afghan Professionals for the International Criminal Court. In addition to receiving financial support from the British Embassy in Kabul and Oxfam Novib, the Crimes of War Project received valuable support from Internews/NAI and the Open Media Fund for Afghanistan, which provided invaluable logistical support.

The first day of the workshop introduced the main points of the laws of armed conflict and human rights law through specific incidents or situations that individuals working in conflict zones are likely to encounter. The second day of the workshop put the law in context by examining the changing nature of conflict in Afghanistan, the legal rules that specifically apply in Afghanistan, and accountability measures for past violations. The aim of the third day was to improve the overall quality of media coverage by focusing on basic reporting strategies and building the skill sets of individual journalists. All three days of the workshop included practical exercises that allowed the participants to engage properly with the issues. Participants considered recent challenges in the field of IHL, particularly those relevant to Afghanistan, through a series of case studies and group exercises.

The Crimes of War Project trainers include evaluation at every step of the training process. They used a four-step model for each lesson in training: explanation, demonstration, practical application, and evaluation. There is also an ongoing, informal process in which the trainers solicit comments from participants throughout the workshop as to whether the materials and methods are clear and useful.

A later evaluation revealed that 90% of the participants rated the overall training experience as Excellent or Good while 10% rated it as Fair. 95% rated the trainers as Excellent or Good while 5% rated them as Fair. 95% rated the facilities and organization of the training as Excellent or Good while 5% rated it as Fair. 100% of the participants felt that the materials handed out were very useful for their work and all the participants would recommend the training to other working journalists in Afghanistan.

If you are interested in finding out further information about the training offered by the Crimes of War Project, please contact Marika Theros at [email protected] or call our Washington DC office on +1 202 638 0230.

Related Links

Open Society Institute

International Development Research Centre

ICRC

Afghanistan Justice Project

UNAMA

Internews

International Crisis Group

Open Media Fund for Afghanistan

Oxfam Novib