Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) has announced successful finalists in the 2014 African Climate Change and Environmental Reporting (ACCER) Awards.
The entry which was made opened for environmental reporters in the media industry had 15 successful winners as the finalist in five categories of the competition.The finalists are Arison Tamfu, Greg Odogwu, Bob Koigi, Patrick Mayoyo, Busani Bafana, Wambi Michael, Jacob Safari, ZeynabWandati, Rose Wangui, NoelaLuka, and Gabriel Adonou. Others are Didier Hubert Madafime, Violate Mengo, Nininahazwe Diane, and Kofi Adu Domfeh
PACJA Program Manager Mr. Samson Ogallah said that the climax of 2014 ACCER Awards competition will be a Gala Night at the sidelines of the UN Environment Assembly which takes place on June 23-27 in Nairobi.
According to Ogallah “the Gala Night will be held at Tribe Hotel Nairobi on June 25, 2014 from 5pm to 10pm to recognize outstanding climate change and environmental journalists across Africa who have scooped various Awards in this vigorous competition” he added.
The ACCER award that took place in Kenya will have three journalists who would take home overall prizes worth US$7,000, including US$1000 in cash as well as all-expenses paid sponsorship to attend the 20th session of the UN Summit on Climate Change in December 2014, which will take place in Lima, Peru.
The award is an initiative of PACJA to recognize journalists from across Africa that have, through their reporting, contributed to the understanding and conceptualization of climate change and environment as broader issue affecting development efforts.
PACJA Secretary General Mr. Mithika Mwenda spoke of the process that produced the last 15 winners of the competition, “Arriving at the ultimate winners from three hundred and nine entries is a rigorous journey, from the announcement of the competition, the official launch and public invitation for entries, collection and collation of entries, selection of judges, selection of best stories, announcement of finalist and the winners. Each phase of the journey is very important”.
Mithika added that “As we entered the penultimate stage of the ACCER Awards 2014, PACJA secretariat hand over all the entry items to the panel of judges who determined the recipients of the 2014 Awards in various categories.
“PACJA is convinced that once again, journalists of impeccable track record simplifying and disseminating climate change and environmental information will get a boost in recognition of their contribution to global call for action on climate change”. He charged.
Angele Luh, the Regional Information Officer for Africa for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) thanked the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) for coming up with the award initiative. “It will move the environmental and climate change reporting to the next level, and ensure that we have accurate and responsible reporting of such issues in Africa,” she said.
Story By : Mayowa Adeniran & Seye Joseph
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