Institute for War and Peace Reporting - Kyrgyzstani Newspapers

Institute for War and Peace Reporting

“ IWPR produces fine reports from unstable parts of the world that are too often ignored by the mainstream media – reports that promote understanding in place of entrenched bigotry and prejudice. ”
Martin Fletcher
Foreign editor, The Times
Our Mission
Build peace and democracy through free and fair media

Our Values
Integrity, human rights, local empowerment

What we do
• establish sustainable networks and institutions
• develop skills and professionalism
• provide reliable reporting
• build dialogue and debate

Where we work now
• Afghanistan
• Caucasus
• Central Asia
• The Netherlands
• Iran
• Iraq
• The Philippines
• Southeastern Europe
• Syria
• Uganda
• Southern Africa
• Zimbabwe

“ IWPR is the zeitgeist! ”
Ed Vulliamy
The Guardian
IWPR builds democracy at the frontlines of conflict and change through the power of professional journalism. IWPR programs provide intensive hands-on training, extensive reporting and publishing, and ambitious initiatives to build the capacity of local media. Supporting peace-building, development and the rule of law, IWPR gives responsible local media a voice.

“ IWPR fills a critical gap by helping local journalists to focus on human rights and justice issues. In the process, it contributes to democratic transitions, and demonstrates that the best war reporting is not about military conflict, but human consequences.”
Samantha Power
Pulitzer Prize-winning author of
A Problem from Hell: America
and the Age of Genocide
We have grown substantially from its origins disseminating frontline reporting by Balkan journalists to counter nationalist hate speech and international misunderstanding throughout the conflicts of the 1990s.

The Institute now exists as an international network for media development, with not for- profit divisions in Europe, the US and Africa supporting training and capacity-building programs for local journalism, with field programs in more than two dozen countries.

Under dictatorships such as Zimbabwe and Uzbekistan, and on-going conflict areas such as Chechnya, IWPR serves a critical role as “electronic samizdat,” supporting local reporters under siege and utilizing new technologies to disseminate their reporting in country, regionally and internationally. This includes extensive syndication in newspapers throughout the United States and regular appearances on NPR, CNN and BBC. In transitional regions, as the Balkans, IWPR has established a network of independent local media organizations to provide journalist training and investigative reporting for the long term. This includes a focus on reporting on war crimes and war crimes tribunals, in The Hague and in the regions.

“ IWPR is unique in combining consistently accurate reporting with incisive analyses of regional trends. Time after time, IWPR is the first with the news, and the best at putting the story in context through regional voices. I’m a big fan. ”
Lorne Craner
President, International Republican Institute
In conflict and post-conflict areas such as Iraq, IWPR operates at the frontline of struggle to professionalize media and civil society, empowering responsible local voices, supporting human rights and development reporting, and contributing to cross-community understanding. In Afghanistan, IWPR has established the country’s first-ever independent news agency to provide balanced indigenous reporting on development, electoral and social issues. In both areas, IWPR provides special focus on empowering women journalists. In Uganda, IWPR is launching an independent radio news agency in advance of critical elections.