Award of Excellence for IslamOnline.net Environmental Journalism

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.