IOM West and Central Africa Migration Journalism Award 2021
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has launched a journalist competition in West and Central Africa to foster quality reporting on migration subject-matters including environmental migration, migrant reintegration, awareness raising about irregular migration and alternatives to irregular migration in the region.
The competition aims to celebrate Journalists who bring attention to the many facets of migration in West and Central Africa in both French and English language. It focuses on fostering fair and balanced reporting on migration, including environmental migration, and awareness raising on safe migration and alternatives to irregular migration.
It is intended to honour, encourage and recognize outstanding stories from the region that shed light on migration from various perspectives, including safe migration, migration and climate change, and returning migrants reintegration.
Thematic Areas
- Migration, Environment and Climate Change
- Reintegration
- Awareness raising about irregular migration
- Alternatives to irregular migration
Prizes
- Prizes will be awarded to up to eight winners. Each winner will receive up to $1,250.
- The winning Journalists will also receive a plaque of recognition and will be invited to a virtual Award ceremony that will be broadcast on IOM’s social media platforms.
Eligibility
- Participants must be 18 years old and older at the time the entry was published.
- Only nationals from a country in West and Central Africa can participate: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone or Togo.
- Journalists or students in journalism schools officially accredited by one of the countries may participate
- To participate in this competition, Journalists and/or Student Journalists are invited to submit their published articles, radio or video reports on the following thematic areas:
- Migration, environment, and climate change (including the links between migration), pastoralism, displacement, planned relocation and environmental degradation, agriculture, water scarcity, coastal erosion, urbanization, desertification, and disasters.
- Feature stories on reintegration projects that impact a returnee migrant and/or community.
- Awareness raising about irregular migration, and
- Alternatives to irregular migration.
- The submitted work must be focused on subjects relating to migration in West and Central Africa. This is defined as stories or reports about migration in countries in the region including internal migration, or from outside the region with a link to countries in the region, or about West and Central Africa diaspora and migrant communities residing in other parts of the world.
- Only entries in which the applicant is the primary author or the co-author of the submitted piece will be accepted.
- Journalists may enter stories from the following forms of media distribution
- Print (online or traditional)
- Broadcast (TV or radio)
- Prior to submission, an entry must be published or broadcast through a media outlet (online, in print or on air). The articles or reports must have been published or aired on the media outlet between September 1, 2020 and August 31, 2021.
- Multiple entries are acceptable; however, each submission must be submitted online separately.
Judging Criteria
The entries would be eligible for judging if they met the following criteria:
- Submitted in English or French.
- Focuses on one of the four thematic areas, and relevant to the West and Central Africa region.
- The entry can only be submitted by either the primary author or the co-author of the submission.
- Articles do not exceed 5,000 characters. Video or audio/radio reports do not exceed 3 minutes.
How To Apply
The call for submissions runs until October 15, 2021. Submissions after the deadline will not be considered.
For more information, visit IOM
Application Deadline: October 15, 2021
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