While traveling In Iraq and the region, Executive Director Rend Al-Rahim appeared on NPR's radio program All Things Considered to discuss the current situation in Iraq and to give her views on the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) as well as the future of U.S - Iraqi relations. The interview, which is available online, was conducted by NPR's Robert Siegel and broadcast on November 14th.

During the month of November, IF successfully implemented a conference in Beirut, Lebanon from the 23 - 25 of November. Bringing together members of the Iraqi Commission on Public Integrity (CPI) and Lebanese Transparency Association (LTA), the participants discussed the latest tools to fight and combat corruption, the role of the code of conduct in promoting good governance and management, and the UN Convention against Corruption. In addition to IF's Chief Operating Officer, Selwa Gailani, and staff, the participants included six members from the CPI, led by Judge Raheem Jrew, head of CPI, as well as officials from the US Embassy in Baghdad and members of Transparency International, a regional organization of LTA.

To further promote awareness raising and outreach efforts of the ACT project, IF intensified its media campaign, nearly doubling its broadcasting efforts on Iraqi radio and television. Radio spots now run three to four times a day and television spots are airing three times a week instead of two.

To support our Human Rights Advocacy Initiative (HRAI), IF held a conference for Iraqi human rights stakeholders as well as the project's second coalition building meeting in Baghdad. Both events were held in Baghdad's Mansour Milia hotel. The stakeholders' conference, which was held on the 11th and 12th of November, gathered more than 60 participants including Members of Parliament, ministries and government representatives as well as religious and community leaders, NGOs and the media. Among other things, participants discussed the achievements and challenges facing the Iraqi Parliament's Human Rights Committee, the responsibilities of human rights NGOs in building bridges between citizens and the government, as well as Iraq's commitments to the ratified international conventions on human rights.

On November 10, 2008 IF held the HRAI project's second coalition building meeting, which was attended by Executive Director Rend Al-Rahim. This meeting gathered 16 coalition members. The participants shared information about the progress of the project, discussed future activities, the challenges ahead, and reviewed some parts of the training on the Martus software, designed to unify and systematize the documentation and retrieval of human rights violations data.

As part of IF's Maysan NGO Capacity Building Project (MNCB), which was launched last August, IF successfully held its first workshop for Maysan-based NGOs in Sulaimaniya from November 15 to November 20, 2008. This workshop trained ten NGOs from the Maysan Governorate on strategies to empower these organizations. Strategic planning, project proposal design and project management, advocacy and networking, governance and management, and financial planning were covered during this workshop. The participating NGOs represent diverse missions and sector interest, as well as the services they provide to their communities. In addition to representatives from the NGOs, IF's Chief Operating Officer, Selwa Gailani, as well as MNCB staff attended the workshop.

IF is proud to support the efforts of Iraqi widows. As part of our Widows Empowerment (WEP) project, IF continued its training classes in all four training centers in Baghdad and Basra. The WEP project is designed to enhance the Iraqi widows' understanding of their rights and civic responsibilities to be better able to participate in the democratic process and civic life and provide widows with practical job and income generation skills.

While traveling In Iraq and the region, Executive Director Rend Al-Rahim appeared on NPR's radio program All Things Considered to discuss the current situation in Iraq and to give her views on the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) as well as the future of U.S - Iraqi relations. The interview, which is available online, was conducted by NPR's Robert Siegel and broadcast on November 14th.

During the month of November, IF successfully implemented a conference in Beirut, Lebanon from the 23 - 25 of November. Bringing together members of the Iraqi Commission on Public Integrity (CPI) and Lebanese Transparency Association (LTA), the participants discussed the latest tools to fight and combat corruption, the role of the code of conduct in promoting good governance and management, and the UN Convention against Corruption. In addition to IF's Chief Operating Officer, Selwa Gailani, and staff, the participants included six members from the CPI, led by Judge Raheem Jrew, head of CPI, as well as officials from the US Embassy in Baghdad and members of Transparency International, a regional organization of LTA.

To further promote awareness raising and outreach efforts of the ACT project, IF intensified its media campaign, nearly doubling its broadcasting efforts on Iraqi radio and television. Radio spots now run three to four times a day and television spots are airing three times a week instead of two.

To support our Human Rights Advocacy Initiative (HRAI), IF held a conference for Iraqi human rights stakeholders as well as the project's second coalition building meeting in Baghdad. Both events were held in Baghdad's Mansour Milia hotel. The stakeholders' conference, which was held on the 11th and 12th of November, gathered more than 60 participants including Members of Parliament, ministries and government representatives as well as religious and community leaders, NGOs and the media. Among other things, participants discussed the achievements and challenges facing the Iraqi Parliament's Human Rights Committee, the responsibilities of human rights NGOs in building bridges between citizens and the government, as well as Iraq's commitments to the ratified international conventions on human rights.

On November 10, 2008 IF held the HRAI project's second coalition building meeting, which was attended by Executive Director Rend Al-Rahim. This meeting gathered 16 coalition members. The participants shared information about the progress of the project, discussed future activities, the challenges ahead, and reviewed some parts of the training on the Martus software, designed to unify and systematize the documentation and retrieval of human rights violations data.

As part of IF's Maysan NGO Capacity Building Project (MNCB), which was launched last August, IF successfully held its first workshop for Maysan-based NGOs in Sulaimaniya from November 15 to November 20, 2008. This workshop trained ten NGOs from the Maysan Governorate on strategies to empower these organizations. Strategic planning, project proposal design and project management, advocacy and networking, governance and management, and financial planning were covered during this workshop. The participating NGOs represent diverse missions and sector interest, as well as the services they provide to their communities. In addition to representatives from the NGOs, IF's Chief Operating Officer, Selwa Gailani, as well as MNCB staff attended the workshop.

IF is proud to support the efforts of Iraqi widows. As part of our Widows Empowerment (WEP) project, IF continued its training classes in all four training centers in Baghdad and Basra. The WEP project is designed to enhance the Iraqi widows' understanding of their rights and civic responsibilities to be better able to participate in the democratic process and civic life and provide widows with practical job and income generation skills.