7 journos get WFP Media Award 2006
Staff Correspondent
World Food Programme (WFP), Bangladesh, yesterday handed over WFP Media Award 2006 to seven journalists of print and electronic media for their contribution in raising awareness about food security, hunger and nutrition issues.Khwaza Main Uddin of the daily New Age won the first prize in the print media category while Ashraf Ali of the daily Naya Diganta was awarded the 2nd prize and Rafique Sarker of The Daily Star received a special prize. F Shahjahan of the Daily Satmatha won a Special Award in the local dailies category. In the electronic media category, the first prizewinner is Talat Mamun of NTV and Shykh Seraj of Channel i is the winner of 2nd prize while Keramot Ullah Biplob of Channel One received a special prize. Tk 50,000 was given for first prizes, Tk 30,000 for second prizes and special prize-winners received Tk 20,000 and Tk 10,000 respectively along with crests and certificates. Veteran journalist Obaidul Huq, former editor of The Bangladesh Observer, handed over the crests and certificates to the awardees. He stressed the need for a vibrant media in a democratic system and called for a stronger collaboration between the media and development partners to improve the policy and programme environment to address chronic food insecurity for the poorest people in the country. Announcing the awards at the National Press Club in the city, WFP Representative Douglas Broderick said the awards would encourage the media professionals to put in their best efforts to capture the sufferings of the ultra-poor people and bring their issues to national level for policy influence. The food predicament in Bangladesh does not lie in food scarcity rather it is the problem for lack of good governance, said Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) President and Executive Editor of the daily Sangbad Manjurul Ahsan Bulbul while speaking on media and food security issues. Senior Infrastructure and Livelihood Adviser of DFID Penny Davies was present as the special guest while WFP Bangladesh Adviser Usha Mishra and Head of Advocacy Imamul Haque were also presents at the prize giving ceremony. WFP has introduced annual "WFP Media Award on food security of the ultra-poor" supported by DFID this year for excellence in food security and hunger related reporting in Bangladesh published or broadcast between August 1, 2005 and September 30, 2006.
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