Institute for War & Peace Reporting (or IWPR for short, iwpr.net) is an international media development charity, established in 1991. It runs major programmes in Afghanistan, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Iran, Iraq, the Balkans, Congo DRC, Tunisia and Uganda. IWPR programmes provide intensive hands-on training, extensive reporting and publishing experience to build the capacity of local media. Many of the resulting stories and outputs are shown on the organisation's website as news reports, radio archives and video shorts.

History

IWPR was founded in the autumn of 1991 under the name Yugofax. Started by American Anthony Borden, Britons

British people

The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...

 Ben Cohen and Vanessa Quick as well as Serbia

Serbia

Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

n journalist Miloš Vasić. Yugofax was initially a newsletter

Newsletter

A newsletter is a regularly distributed publication generally about one main topic that is of interest to its subscribers. Newspapers and leaflets are types of newsletters. Additionally, newsletters delivered electronically via email have gained rapid acceptance for the same reasons email in...

 that focused on the troubling developments throughout the Balkans

Balkans

The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...

 from a liberal perspective.

As the Balkan conflict soon developed into an all out war, Yugofax newsletter changed its name to Balkan War Report.

Eventually, in late 1995, after the Dayton Peace Accord was signed thus ending the war in Bosnia, the newsletter expanded its area of focus to other global trouble spots (initially mainly focusing on ex-Soviet republics) and adjusted its name to simply War Report.

In 1998, the newsletter changed its name again, this time to Institute for War & Peace Reporting and registered as a non-governmental organization

Non-governmental organization

A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...

.

Network

IWPR is an international network of three partner not-for-profit organisations. They are governed by Boards of Trustees of senior journalists, peace-building and human rights experts, regional specialists, and business and NGO professionals. An International Council links the Boards; the International Chairman is Sir David Bell, chairman of The Financial Times. The Institute is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom, as an Section 501(c)(3) not for profit in the United States, and as a charitable foundation in The Netherlands.