A five day workshop will allow Iraqi and Kurdish women to tell their stories about life as a refugee.

The workshop in Erbil, Iraq, will be run by the AFP Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation that promotes freedom of expression through the training of journalists in developing countries, and a women’s campaign called Chime for Change.

The workshop will mark the beginning of a partnership that will empower women and girls in matters of justice, health and education.

A dozen women and girls will take part in the initiative which will be run in Arabic and English by Randa Habib, the AFP Foundation’s director for the Middle East and North Africa, and Mariane Pearl, managing editor of Chime Stories, working with Kurdish interpreters.

Foundation director, Robert Holloway, says, “In Erbil we will be introducing women and girls to a reporter’s techniques so as to give them a voice. We are proud to be associated with Chime for Change and its efforts to use narrative journalism to bring justice to women who are fighting oppression.”

Stories, videos and photos from the workshop will be shared and used to help raise funds and awareness for the charities.

Kurdish news network, Rudaw, has agreed to provide technical and logistical support to the partners and the AFP Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation set up by AFP global news agency. The AFP Foundation has previously trained more than 1,800 journalists, notably in Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.