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DAKAR,
December 1 (IslamOnline.net) -IslamOnline.net’s Science Editor, Nadia El-Awady,
was presented yesterday, November 30, with the first prize of the first
WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) Media Award on the second day of the Global
WASH Forum in Dakar, Senegal.
The
award was presented to El-Awady for her “outstanding article, The
Nile and its People, which illustrates the impacts of industrial
pollution, sewage and solid waste management on people’s health and dignity
along the River Nile,” reads the press release issued by the Water Supply and
Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC), the sponsors of the award.
El-Awady
received, in addition to a plaque, US$500 and an all-expenses paid trip to
attend the Global WASH Forum between November 29 and December 3. She was also
invited to attend the WASH Media Workshop, held between November 26 and 28,
which focused on raising journalists’ skills in covering water issues.
Mr.
Robert Lamb, from BBC’s Earth Report and Chair of the Panel of Judges,
commented on the article saying, “This is an outstanding piece of journalistic
work – clear, concise and investigative. As a journalist, one immediately gets
to thinking that this is something one should be doing a larger program
about.” Other judges on the panel included Mr. Geoffrey Lean from UNEP’s Our
Planet (UK), Mr. Nalaka Gunawardene from TVE Asia Pacific (Sri Lanka), Mr.
Victor Bacchetta, freelance journalist (Uruguay), Ms. Claudia Mazzeo, freelance
journalist (Argentina) and Mr. Seidick Abba, Panapress News Agency (Senegal).
The
award was presented to El-Awady by Sir Richard Jolly, Chair of the Water Supply
and Sanitation Collaborative Council.
Gourisankar
Ghosh, Executive Director of the WSSCC, wrote in a letter to El-Awady, “The
standard of excellence in investigative reporting as demonstrated in your
article is an indication that there is no dearth of talent and good stories to
be found in the fields of water and sanitation in the developing world.” He
added, “We hope that by your example, other developing country journalists
will be encouraged to write about WASH-related issues in their own countries
with the same candor and responsibility that you have shown in your article.”
El-Awady,
originally a graduate of Cairo University’s Faculty of Medicine, is currently
studying for a masters degree in journalism at the American University in Cairo.
Her prize-winning article was originally written as part of her course-work in a
class on advanced reporting and writing in her masters program. El-Awady has
been working as a science journalist with IslamOnline.net since April 2000. El-Awady
is also a wife and mother of four.
IslamOnline.net’s
Health & Science section has paid special attention to covering water and
sanitation issues all over the developing world, in part due to the increased
awareness of its staff to these issues after attending the 3rd World Water Forum
in Kyoto, Japan in March 2003 on behalf of IslamOnline.net.
Established
by the WSSCC in 2002, the WASH Media Award encourages investigative reporting on
water, sanitation and hygiene issues by developing country journalists from
print, radio and TV media. The international panel of judges evaluated more than
100 stories in English, French and Spanish from over 40 countries. WSSCC
received entries from print, radio and TV media that were written or produced in
one of three languages - English, French and Spanish. Journalists could also
submit entries in other languages but needed to provide a translation into one
of the aforementioned languages.
The
WSSCC is a leading international organisation that enhances collaboration in the
water supply and sanitation sector, in order to attain universal coverage of
water and sanitation services for poor people around the world. The Council was
set up in 1990 through a mandate by the United Nations General Assembly to
maintain the momentum of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation
Decade (1981-1990). In 2001 it launched the global WASH campaign "Water,
Sanitation and Hygiene for all" aimed at mobilising political support for
these issues and to accelerate the attainment of the Millennium Development
Goals. The WSSCC Secretariat is located in Geneva and is headed by Executive
Director Mr. Gourisankar Ghosh.
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