Next month’s evening brief of the HR Directors Club, on 6 June, plays host to journalist and broadcaster Rageh Omaar, who was the BBC’s man in Baghdad during the war in Iraq.
His reports from the beleaguered Iraqi capital became a regular feature on news bulletins in the UK and around the world.
Omaar began his career as a journalist in 1990 as a trainee at The Voice newspaper in south London.
In 1991 he moved to Ethiopia where he freelanced as a foreign correspondent, with much of his work being broadcast by the BBC World Service.
Omaar was appointed Amman correspondent for the BBC in March 1997, before becoming developing world correspondent from 1998, covering stories ranging from drought in Ethiopia to devastating floods in Mozambique.
He then moved to Johannesburg to become the BBC News Africa correspondent.
Omaar’s most recent documentary was for ITV1 – Coping with the Tsunami, which was screened in the UK in July 2005.
For the BBC’s Africa series he has interviewed Nelson Mandela and other recent work has included a BBC Panorama special, Knives – A Teenage War Zone and BBC4’s An Islamic Journey Through Europe.
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Omaar is just one example of the inspirational speakers to have taken the stage at HR Directors Club events. Previous guests include Conservative MP Boris Johnson, BBC political editor Andrew Marr, and Karren Brady, managing director of Birmingham City FC.
The HR Directors Club is sponsored by Arinso, Hammonds, TMP Worldwide and XpertHR.
For event booking and details of how to join, including full, interim and gold membership, visit www.hrdirectorsclub.com