Four Million Love Letters to Mosul

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Four Million Love Letters to Mosul

By IWPR

Unprecedented initiative sends messages of support from Iraqi citizens to the beleaguered residents of the country’s second-largest city.

IWPR has helped airdrop four million letters of solidarity from ordinary Iraqis to the residents of Islamic State (IS)-held Mosul as part of a groundbreaking initiative supporting local voices and freedom of expression.

Mosul has been held by IS for more than two years. Since early spring 2016, the residents of Iraq’s second largest city have also been living in an information blackout, risking a death sentence if found watching TV, listening to the radio or using the internet.

The IWPR airdrop – which took place with Iraqi air force support - aimed to provide the people of Mosul with tangible proof that there were millions of Iraqis outside the city sympathizing with them.

Nearly 60 young volunteers from Baghdad, Basra, Najaf, Babil, and Anbar worked from November 23 to December 15 to collect messages of support from ordinary people.

They set up kiosks in central parts of each city, inviting citizens to write letters to the people of Mosul, with the aim of allowing ordinary Iraqis to reach out directly to those held hostage by Islamic State...

Read more:
https://iwpr.net/global-voices/four-million-love-letters-mosul



About IWPR:

IWPR supports local reporters, citizen journalists and civil society activists in three dozen countries in conflict, crisis and transition around the world. We contribute to peace and good governance by strengthening the ability of media and civil society to speak out. We do this by training, mentoring and providing platforms for professional and citizen reporters; building up the institutional capacity of media and civic groups; and working with independent and official partners to remove barriers to free expression, robust public debate and citizen engagement.

More info:
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