Journalists Context
6th journalists contest on SRHR/FP in OP Countries
The 6th edition of the OP journalists contest on SRHR has been launched and will end on September 30, 2021. The competition is organized by the Ouagadougou Partnership and the Population Council.
The objective of this contest is to stimulate the production of journalists and bloggers to accompany the dynamics set by informing the public of the SRHR/FP issues and empowering political and programmatic decision-makers for adequate decision-making in order to advance the objectives of CIPs.
Specific Objectives:
- stimulate the production of articles and programs on SRHR/FP by journalists and bloggers from OP countries;
- promote the RH/FP objectives of OP countries;
- promote information on SRHR/FP and the contribution of journalists and bloggers to the promotion of FP in OP countries;
- stimulate the collaboration of journalists and bloggers with OP focal points and other FP stakeholders in the 09 countries
- encourage journalists and bloggers to hold their governments accountable and to be transparent about their commitments to fund RH/FP;
- contribute to the identification of potential RH/FP champion journalists in the region;
- provide information to assess the media’s contribution to the promotion of SRHR/FP in the region.
Two winners will be awarded in each category. The winning productions will be widely promoted as examples of good journalistic practice in family planning
Journalists and bloggers who meet the following conditions are eligible:
- be a citizen of a OP country;
- be affiliated, for journalists, with a print media outlet (newspaper, magazine or online newspaper), radio or television accredited in the country;
- be the host (journalist or not) of a blog that has been in existence for at least one year.
Journalists may submit their work in one of the following four production categories:
- Print/Online Press;
- Radio ;
- Television;
- Blog
Exclusion Criteria
- Productions that have been previously submitted for another contest will not be accepted.
- Institutions or organizations are not eligible for the contest
The genres of productions concerned are the following editorial genres:
- In print and online media: investigation, report, interview;
- On radio: the magazine, the interview, the round table and the great report.
- In television: the magazine, the great-report, the interview and the investigation.
- In blog: report, interview, investigation.
Productions must meet the following criteria
- The subject must be related to SRHR/FP;
- The subject must relate to a member country of the OP;
- The production must have first aired or published between April 1, 2020 and September 30, 2021;
- The production must have been published/broadcast in a media of one of the member countries of the OP;
- The production must be in French. Regarding video productions in local languages, subtitles must be in French.
- The production may be the work of co-authors, however, only one representative will be invited to attend the awards ceremony;
- Any applicant may submit two productions, however they should be submitted in two different categories.
In addition to respect for ethics and journalistic deontology, all content will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
- Topic relevance
- Originality
- Exceptional ability to raise awareness on SRHR/FP
- Good understanding of the topic
- Clarity, precision and elegance of language used
- Documentary research
- Source diversity
Selection of winners will be based on the nominee’s production without regard to gender, nationality, geographic location, or religious or political views.
A prize will be awarded to the two (02) best productions in each category:
- The 1st Prize will receive a check for one million CFA francs (1,000,000 CFA francs)
- The 2nd Prize will receive a check in the amount of five hundred thousand CFA francs (500,000 CFA francs)
The awards will be officially presented in December at the virtual OP Annual Meeting.
Submission procedure for productions
Attendance is free but a subscription is required. Requests can be submitted to [email protected] or by completing the online form (insert form link). The documents required for submission are as follows
The required documents for submission are as follows
- Application form
- Biography
- An electronic version of the assignment to be submitted.
How to participate
To obtain the submission form or for any questions about the competition, please contact [email protected]
Important dates to remember:
- Competition launch: July 5, 2021
- Period of publication/broadcasting of productions: April 1, 2020 and September 30, 2021
- Deadline for submitting works: September 30, 2021
- Compilation, verification of productions before sending to jury members: October 4, 2021
- Jury review of productions: October 5 to 26, 2021
- Compilation of jury members’ scores: October 26 to 28, 2021
- Conference call for jury members: October 28, 2021
- Notification: 30 October 2021
- Awards ceremony: December 2021.
Right to use
By participating in this contest, candidates confirm that their productions are original works that do not violate the rights of any third party. The candidates accept full responsibility for the authorship of their work and undertake to reimburse the organizers in the event of a complaint from a third party with regard to the authorship of the production. Entrants agree to grant the right to use their winning production without payment or fee for promotional or informational purposes.
About Ouagadougou Partnership
Ouagadougou Partnership was launched in February 2011, at the Regional Conference on Population, Development and Family Planning : “Urgency to act”, held in the capital of Burkina Faso. It relies on the commitment of governments, better coordination between donors to optimize their support to countries, an acceleration of the implementation of high-impact interventions and also on collaboration and cooperation at national and regional levels to remedy the high rate of unmet family planning needs. The Ouagadougou Partnership has nine member countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Togo. (For more information, visit this website: www.partenariatouaga.org)
About Population Council
Population Council tackles the critical issues of health and development – whether it’s stemming the spread of HIV, improving reproductive health and offering young people the promise of a fulfilling and productive. Through its research in biomedicine, social sciences and public health in 50 countries, it works with its partners to bring solutions that lead to more effective policies, programs and technologies, to improve lives everywhere in the world. Founded in 1952, the Population Council is a not-for-profit, non-governmental organization. It is based in New York under the guidance of an international board of directors. (For more information, visit the site below: www.popcouncil.org)