this article may rely excessively on sources too closely associated with the subject potentially preventing the article from being verifiable and neutral . please help improve it by replacing them with more appropriate citations to reliable independent third party sources . october 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message international women s media foundation type nonprofit organization industry journalism human rights social justice women s rights founded 1990 headquarters washington d.c. united states website iwmf.org the international women s media foundation iwmf located in washington d.c. is an organization working internationally to elevate the status of women in the media . 1 the iwmf has created programs to help women in the media develop practical solutions to the obstacles they face in their careers and lives . the iwmf s work includes a wide range of programs including international reporting fellowships in africa and latin america and providing grant opportunities for women journalists research into the status of women in the media and the courage in journalism anja niedringhaus courage in photojournalism and lifetime achievement awards . the iwmf advocates for press freedom internationally and often forms petitions asking international governments to release journalists in captivity and offer protection to journalists in danger . contents 1 history 2 courage awards 2.1 lifetime achievement awards 3 leadership institute for women journalists 3.1 africa 3.2 europe 3.3 latin america 3.4 united states 4 elizabeth neuffer fellowship 5 reporting on agriculture and women project 6 the maisha yetu project 7 reporta 8 see also 9 references 10 external links history edit this section needs expansion . you can help by adding to it . october 2015 in march 2011 the iwmf organized an international conference of women leaders at george washington university in order to commemorate the organization s twentieth anniversary and reflect on the status of women in the media . citation needed in 2011 the iwmf published a report titled global report on the status of women in the news media . 2 courage awards edit the iwmf annually awards three woman journalists with an award that honors women journalists who set themselves apart by their extraordinary bravery . 3 according to the iwmf courage in journalism awards winners have faced and survived danger to uncover the truth and raised the bar for reporting under duress . 3 the awards are presented each year at ceremonies in new york and los angeles . the 2010 courage in journalism award winners were claudia duque colombia tsering woeser tibet and vicky ntetema tanzania . 4 5 6 the 2013 courage in journalism award winners were najiba ayubi director of the killid group in afghanistan ; nour kelze a photographer for reuters in syria ; bopha phorn a reporter for the cambodia daily and edna machirori the first black female editor of a newspaper in zimbabwe . 7 the event was hosted by cindi leive and olivia wilde at the beverly hills hotel . 7 the 2014 courage in journalism award winners were arwa damon cnn lebanon solange lusiku nsimire le souverain democratic republic of the congo and brankica stankovi rtv b92 serbia . 8 lifetime achievement awards edit the iwmf also honors women who have had groundbreaking careers in journalism with the lifetime achievement awards . 3 according to the iwmf lifetime achievement award winners kicked down barriers to make it possible for women all over the world to find their voices and make them heard . 3 award recipients include alma guillermoprieto from mexico 2010 amira hass from israel 2009 and edith lederer from the united states 2008 . 9 leadership institute for women journalists edit in 1998 the iwmf launched an annual week long leadership institute for veteran woman journalists . the institutes train women to maintain successful careers in media organizations and provide the necessary skills to allow women to become leaders in their newsrooms . veteran newswomen come together to share leadership styles strategies for managing people and change tips for negotiating salary navigating politics and balancing work and home . 10 these institutes are held in the u.s. as well as worldwide . the 2009 u.s. leadership institute was held in chicago july 20 22 . past institutes have been held in mali 2010 uganda 2009 and lithuania 2008 . africa edit the leadership institutes in africa began in 1998 in zimbabwe . the iwmf pioneered leadership training for women journalists in africa . training is conducted in english speaking and french speaking african nations including one in kampala uganda 2009 and bamako mali 2010 . europe edit the leadership institutes in europe began in the 1990s . the most recent institute was held in 2008 for women journalists from the former soviet republics . participants discussed the challenges of media management the perception of women journalists in the former soviet republics and the qualities and attitudes that produce inspired and inspiring leaders . the institute was held in vilnius lithuania . latin america edit the leadership institutes in latin america began in mexico in 1998 . past institutes have been held in nicaragua argentina and ecuador 2001 . additional training was provided online to latin american women journalists in 2004 . united states edit the leadership institutes in the u.s. provide critical career building skills and the opportunity to network with colleagues . women news executives use role playing and other practical exercises to demonstrate leadership styles and share strategies . the sixth annual u.s. leadership institute was held july 2009 in chicago . during the three months following the institute participants received one on one coaching on implementing personalized action plans developed during the institute . elizabeth neuffer fellowship edit one woman journalist who covers human rights and social justice issues is chosen annually for the elizabeth neuffer fellowship . the program is named for elizabeth neuffer a 1998 iwmf courage in journalism award winner and boston globe correspondent who was killed in iraq in may 2003 . the iwmf elizabeth neuffer fellowship perpetuates her memory and advances her life mission of promoting international understanding of human rights and social justice . 11 this fellowship gives the journalist the opportunity to spend an academic year in a tailored program at the massachusetts institute of technology s center for international studies with access to the boston globe and the new york times . the flexible structure of the program provides the fellows with opportunities to pursue academic research and hone reporting skills covering topics related to human rights . past neuffer fellows have been from colombia australia iraq and the united states . reporting on agriculture and women project edit the reporting on agriculture and women project is changing the way the media cover agriculture rural development and farming stories . 12 the iwmf provides training to journalists to help them effectively provide coverage of agriculture and the role of women in transforming food production and rural development in african countries . the project s goals include raising the quantity and quality of reporting on farming and rural development focusing more reporting on the importance of women to the economics of rural areas and creating more gender equality in newsrooms . in february 2009 the iwmf published its research in a publication titled sowing the seeds which revealed three key findings 13 even though agriculture plays a crucial role for africa s economic growth it comprises only four percent of media coverage . whether female or male farmers voices are seldom heard in agricultural coverage . in the agricultural stories monitored 70 percent of the sources were government officials and experts professionals . only 20 percent were farmers and other rural agricultural workers . women are almost invisible in the media . even though women produce 70 percent of food in sub saharan africa and make up half of the region s population just 11 percent of the sources and 22 percent of the reporters are women . using the same model as the maisha yetu project centers of excellence were created in l essor and radio kl du in mali the daily monitor and uganda broadcasting corporation in uganda and the times of zambia and zambia national broadcasting corporation in zambia . the iwmf staff and experienced local trainers provide on site training to journalists . the maisha yetu project edit the maisha yetu project was a project that the iwmf created in 2002 with a 1.5 million grant from the bill & melinda gates foundation . its purpose was to enhance the quality and consistency of reporting on hiv aids tb and malaria in africa . the first phase of the project was qualitative and quantitative research on how the media cover hiv aids tb and malaria which was published as deadline for health the media s response to covering hiv aids tb and malaria in africa . the second phase of maisha yetu was the creation of centers of excellence in three african countries with the goal of creating practical sustainable measures to help african media improve their health coverage . a report on the project writing for our lives how the maisha yetu project changed health coverage in africa was published in july 2006 . a conference was also held in johannesburg south africa in july 2006 where representatives from the centers of excellence shared their experiences with representatives from key african media and nongovernmental and women s organizations . reporta edit reporta developer s iwmf initial release september 29 2015 2015 09 29 14 stable release android 1.1.2 july 19 2016 ; 2 months ago 2016 07 19 15 ios 1.1.2 july 20 2016 ; 2 months ago 2016 07 20 16 development status active operating system android ios license gplv3 17 website www.reporta.org in september 2015 the iwmf released a free mobile security app designed for journalists . 14 the app was received critically by security experts because the app was closed source ; the iwmf has not published the reports of the audits that it claims to have done ; the iwmf has access to the contents of the messages that are sent with the app as well as the locations of its users ; and because the app s privacy policy states that the iwmf reserves the right to share this data with a wide variety of third parties respond to subpoenas and court orders from an unspecified number of jurisdictions and to modify the privacy policy at any time without prior notice to the app s users . 18 reverse engineering of the app revealed that every action is logged that the user s last locations are stored in plaintext and that the app uses an insecure encryption protocol when connecting to the iwmf s server . 19 in response the iwmf announced that they would release the application s source code under an open source license . 19 security researchers were still critical of the iwmf s model of collecting and storing personal data unencrypted . 19 the iwmf released the source code for the ios and android versions of the mobile app as well as its backend database server as free and open source software under the gplv3 license in january 2016 . 17 see also edit women in journalism and media professions references edit iwmf website http www.iwmf.org about.aspx global report on the status of women in the news media pdf . washington dc iwmf . 2011 . isbn 978 0 615 45270 8 . lccn 2011923636 . retrieved 13 october 2015 . a b c d courage in journalism award . iwmf . retrieved 13 october 2015 . tibetan writer woeser wins courage in journalism award press release iwmf website http www.iwmf.org categorylistyear.aspx c cijwinner a b brown rachel 4 november 2013 . cindi leive olivia wilde host courage in journalism awards . wwd . retrieved 5 november 2013 . 2014 awardees . iwmf . retrieved 2014 06 30 . courage in journalism award winners . iwmf . retrieved 13 october