A number of journalists have been named as winners of the 2014 WASH Media Awards competition for their excellence in reporting on water, sanitation and hygiene-related (WASH) issues. South Africa’s Mbali Chiya was honoured for the story, Human Rights to Water and Sanitation. The Alex FM journalist won the category, the Human Right to Water and Sanitation.
“I worked with my colleagues at Alex FM to raise awareness about water and sanitation issues in Alexandra, north of Johannesburg. Some of our community members do not understand their right to water and sanitation,” Chiya said on the Facebook page for the Children’s Radio Foundation after being named as one the winners of the 2014 WASH Media Awards in Stockholm, Sweden.
The journalists, their winning entries and the award categories are:
- Marcelo Leite (Brazil): The Battle of Belo Monte”(Category: Water and Energy)
- Natasha Khan (Canada) and Ketaki Gokhale (USA): No Menstrual Hygiene For Indian Women Holds Economy Back (Category: Equity and Inclusion in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene)
- Seun Aikoye (Nigeria): Lagosians shun public toilets as open defecation continues (Category: Ending Open Defecation)
- Mbali Chiya (South Africa): Human Rights to Water and Sanitation (Category: The Human Right to Water and Sanitation)
- Umaru Sanda Amadu (Ghana): Water Wahala (Category: WASH in the Future: The Post-2015 Development Agenda)
- Dilrukshi Handunnetti (Sri Lanka): Sri Lankan Girls Miss out on Sanitation Gains (Category: Monitoring WASH Commitments)
The winners received their awards during a ceremony at the closing plenary session of the annual World Water Week in Stockholm. The journalists shared their experiences with leading water, sanitation, environment and development experts. Journalists are key partners for sanitation, hygiene and water sector professionals in their awareness raising, advocacy and behaviour change work. Journalists play a central role in the highlighting of water and gender related issues and positioning of women as environmental leaders. They greatly contribute to bringing in the spotlight the too often neglected issues of the necessity of toilets and hand washing for a dignified, safe and healthy life for billions of people.
The biannual WASH Media Awards competition is sponsored by the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC, ) and the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI, www.siwi.org). More than 100 entries from 30 countries were evaluated by a Mr. Mark Tran, a notable international correspondent for The Guardian, UK.
