UNCA Award Winners 2007

for our readers interested in such things

THE UNITED NATIONS CORRESPONDENTS ASSOCIATION
UNCA Awards Committee
United Nations Headquarters
New York
NY 10017
Email: UNCA-Awards@igc.org
UNCA President: J Tuyet Nguyen Awards Chair: Ian Williams

Press Release
Twelfth UNCA Annual Awards
Thursday 6 December 2007

Friday evening, 7 December, at the Delegates Dining Room, UN HQ, New York, the UN Correspondents Association hosts its Twelfth Annual Awards Dinner.

Secretary General Ban Ki Moon will present the awards to the following

UNCA Citizen of the World Award
Richard Branson,
For his strong support for environmental and humanitarian causes,
Who will be introduced by Oscar-winning Actress Mira Sorvino

UN Foundation Prize for Coverage of Development Issues
Gold: Lazaro Mabunda O Pais Mozambique
“a very strong effort at documenting national failure on what G77 governments claim is the most pressing UN goa.l”

Silver: Shakuntala Perera, Daily Mirror Sri Lanka
“A revealing window on how ‘jawboning’ by UN human rights bodies and representatives can generate domestic political pressures domestically for government to clean up its act.”

Elixabeth Neuffer Award for best Overall Print Coverage of the UN and its Work
Joint Gold:
Opheera McDoom Reuters, Sudan
“A consistent, continuing, and convincing coverage of the Darfur agony and Khartoum mendacity – from the capital and from the countryside; multitextured and fearless”
&
Maggie Farley & Edmund Sanders, LA Times , USA, Coverage of Darfur
“impressive reporting on a global disaster.”

Silver Godwin Nnanna Businessday, Nigeria,

“A good series ‘from the streets’ of Ivory Coast, tracking locals' assessment of the UN at work there."

Antena 3 Ricardo Ortega Prize for Best Electronic Coverage
Gold: Cairo Bureau NHK, Japan,
“For a broad television audience in a faraway land, this represents a major journalistic investment – and one that palpably captures the feel of a collapsed Somalia”

Silver: Martin Semukanya Executive Producer Channel Africa South Africa

“An informative radio report on development issues in Africa, balanced yet critical."

Gold: Talal Al-Haj, Producer, Al-Arabiya “for a detailed historical overview and current examination of UN for the Arab World”

As befits a competition rewarding coverage of the United Nations, this year’s finalists submitted in Arabic, English, French, Japanese, and Portuguese. The winners will share $33,000 in prizes- but it is the glory that counts!

Entries this year came from Afghanistan, Armenia, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroun, China, Egypt, Ghana, Japan, Kenya, Korea, India, Lebanon, Mongolia, Mozambique, Mongolia, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Romania, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tajikistan, Uganda, United Kingdom, and the United States, which reflects the unique nature of the UNCA Awards, which are unusual in being international in nature and in not charging an entry fee.

There will be a photo-op at 7:15, on the second floor of the UN. The Dinner and Awards begin at 7:30 in the Delegates Dining Room.
Press must obtain a UN grounds pass for the event.

Photos of some of this year's winners and details of previous awardees are available at www.unca.com
For more details call
Ian Williams
Chairman UNCA Awards Committee, 917 362 1477