2002 winners Cotonou, Benin, May 31, 2002: The jury of the Africa Education Journalism Award, meeting for the first time here at the West African News Media and Development Center (WANAD), today announced the 2002 Prize winners.

For articles in French, the first prize was awarded to Rose Akakpo of Benin, for her article ‘Revaloriser la fonction enseignante’ published in Le Point Quotidien of Cotonou. Second prize winner was Didier Semanyenzi of Rwanda for his piece entitled ‘La non scolarisation des filles au Rwanda n’est pas un mythe’ which appeared in the monthly publication, La Nouvelle Relève of Kigali.

Prize winners for articles written in English were: Bukola Olatunji of Nigeria (first prize) for her story ‘How far can a meal go?’, published in The Comet of Lagos. The second prize went to John Eremu of Uganda, for his article, ‘Is your certificate genuine or forged?’ published in the Kampala-based New Vision.

The prize winners and the editors-in-chief of their publications will be invited to undertake a study visit including seminars in Paris and London. In addition, the first prize winner in each language will receive a cash award of 2000 euros, while second place winners will receive 1000 euros.

The African Education Journalism Award was initiated by the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) in connection with its Communication for Education and Development in Africa (COMED) which is hosted by WANAD. The objectives of the prize are: to promote communication and dialogue on education issues in African countries; to encourage articles on education in the press and to facilitate the creation of a network of African journalists specialising in reporting education; to mobilize public support for education through the media.

For this first edition, the jury, made up of renowned education specialists and experienced journalists with in-depth knowledge of the African continent, scrutinised about 30 articles according to agreed selection criteria. The thirty articles were pre-selected from 260 entries. Submissions came from 20 countries.

Encouraged by the level of participation in this first round, ADEA plans to continue promoting the objectives of the African Education Journalism Award, and will give special attention to enhancing the editorial quality of articles on education.

About COMED

ADEA’s COMED program is implemented by the West African News Media and Development Center (WANAD) with support from the World Bank and the Norwegian Education Trust Fund. A major premise underlying the COMED program is that information exchange and communication among partners are essential to well-managed and efficient educational systems and to the achievement of quality education for all. The COMED program is therefore designed to help African countries establish structures able to conceive and implement information and communication programs.

Given the key role of the mass media in disseminating information, COMED gives special emphasis to training African journalists in how to report education and development issues. So far, over 120 journalists and communication officers from 30 countries have participated in COMED workshops since 1999.

About ADEA

ADEA was created in 1988 to foster greater collaboration and coordination between development agencies. Since 1992, ADEA has become a partnership between African ministers of education and international funding agencies. It has evolved into a structure designed to:

(i) reinforce African ministries’ leadership capacities as they work with funding agencies;

(ii) develop these agencies’ awareness that their own practices should be adapted to the needs of nationally-driven education policies, programs and projects;

(iii) develop a consensus between ministries and agencies on approaches to the major issues facing education in Africa.

Central to ADEA’s philosophy is the belief that the responsibility for educational development rests with national governments. Towards this end, ADEA is concerned with fostering a process that empowers African ministries of education and makes funding agencies more responsive to countries’ concerns and priorities. ADEA’s activities focus on strengthening policy dialogue between governments and agencies, between governments, and between agencies. Activities also focus on the development of institutional capacities within Africa through technical skill development and the sharing of successful strategies, innovations and experiences.

Cotonou, Benin, May 31, 2002