Right now, I’m at the Mo Ibrahim Foundation Forum in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania about to announce the 2009 ONE Africa Award winner: “Slums Information Development and Resource Centers” (SIDAREC) of Kenya.

Founded by a group of young people from the slums, SIDAREC focuses on lifting the standard of living of the youth living in Kenya’s slum communities by tapping into their skills and talents. The slums that SIDAREC operates in were spared the violence after the 2007 elections in large part because residents had an outlet for getting their voices heard through SIDAREC. Innovative approaches include the use of drama,
art, and Ghetto 99.9 FM radio to reach residents with development-oriented information.

You can learn more about SIDAREC and other outstanding ONE Award applicants here.

This is our second annual ONE Award-a onetime prize worth US$100,000 designed to recognize innovative African efforts to tackle the Millennium Development Goals. We received 170 applications in total and narrowed the field to eight final candidates, including the winner, all of whom are featured on our website.

-Edith Jibunoh

I am really pleased to inform you that we have had great response to our ONE award call for applications so far and already have a very diverse pool of applicants from all over the continent who are involved in various sector activities to advance the millennium development goals. There is still one week left to receive applications – until August 21st – so if you meet the requirements, or know of a group that does, we encourage you to get the application in quickly.

This is an excellent opportunity to showcase the great work that is being done on the continent, designed and driven by Africans for Africans. This is our way of rewarding these efforts and we hope you can help us spread the word!

-Edith Jibunoh

I am really pleased to announce that the ONE Africa Award is once again open to receive applications from African individuals and organizations, based in Africa, leading the fight against poverty. The award of up to $100,000 aims to showcase civil society working on the ground to bring about change amongst the poorest people in Africa. We’re looking for new ideas and exciting approaches to transforming lives, initiated by accountable organizations that can demonstrate success at a community, national or regional level.

Since becoming the first ONE Africa award recipient, Development Communications has continued their boot-camp style training for journalists on maternal and child health issues. They have also added a video suite to their resource centre where journalists can record their shows on maternal and child health for dissemination to the Nigerian audience. This type of innovation has an important role to play in saving lives and advancing African development. If you are, or know of others involved in innovative efforts to achieve the MDGs, we encourage these applications between now and the deadline of August 21st. By honoring the commitment and progress on the ground, we hope that new efforts can be inspired leading to a transformation of countries in Africa.

Please help us spread the word. More information is available here.

-Edith Jibunoh

Ever since winning the first ever ONE Africa Award, Development Communication (Devcoms) has been overwhelmed with additional work and recognition as the leading organization in media and communication for development. Here’s a quick update on some of the exciting work Devcoms has been involved with:

• Devcoms has had over five requests to partner in initiating new projects including a global initiative on science and public health journalism. Most of these potential partnership discussions have reached advanced stages of discussion.
• In December 2008, the Nigerian Minister of Health invited Devcoms to join a national team to develop the strategic communication component of the national ‘Agenda for Health’.
• Devcoms has carried out a series of capacity building activities for in-school journalism students incorporating mentoring and advocacy on poverty eradication.
• Devcoms has delivered presentations to editors of national media on MDGs 4 and 5 in collaboration with UNICEF, most recently during the launch and dissemination of the 2009 State of the World Chidren Report.
• Devcoms is also developing a publication on their strategy employed in the immersion of journalists using MDGs 2, 3, 4 and 5.

As you know, applications are now being accepted for the 2009 ONE Africa Award. This award is designed to honor, celebrate and recognize Africa-driven and African-led efforts that are changing lives, communities, and countries one step at a time. You can apply here.

-Edith Jibunoh

From Thursday the 9th – Friday 10th October, ONE Award Winner Devcoms hosted an immersion program for journalists in Kaduna (northern Nigeria) on current maternal newborn and child health issues in Nigeria with the goal of building the skills necessary for journalists to report responsibly on MDG goals 4 and 5.

Northern Nigeria’s health statistics are a lot worse than the rest of the country, and making the news in the Nigerian press in the last week has been a call by members of civil society to Northern governors, for a scale up of their interventions in these States where the situation, especially in child and maternal health, has become dire. Policy makers have also called on federal government to declare a national emergency to tackle the problems of the north, especially the Almajiri (child beggars, many from koranic schools) phenomenon. The World Bank recently reported that northern Nigerian has the highest number of illiterate children in the world and the region also has the least percentage of educational enrollment and success rate in national examinations in the country. The fundamental differences between northern and southern Nigeria’s poverty situation are the levels of severity and magnitude, and many blame religion (Islam is the prominent religion in the north), culture and the feudal history of governance for the current circumstances.

Devcoms hosted the immersion program at an opportune time given the current socio-political debates and successful results should mean that the 15 participants are empowered to write informed stories based on the collection of evidence from the field, from the people living in the conditions of concern. Akin Jimoh, Devcoms Coordinator, hosted the program and brought several resource persons from: Ministry of Health; a Health professor from the Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Nigeria; a budget tracking specialist from Action AID; and the Head of the Acquire project which works on Fistula. I provided an overview of ONE’s work and explained how our organization continues to fight to make sure these issues remain on the front burner of international development debates.

(more…)

As promised, here are some pictures taken at this year’s ONE Africa Award ceremony! As you may know, the award created to honour outstanding contributions by Africans towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Development Communications (DEVCOMS) Network, won this year for their excellent work with the media in Nigeria, training and sensitizing journalists and editors to public health care issues, especially for women and children. Directly below is a picture of Mr. Akin Jimoh (left) accepting the award from Mr. K.Y. Amoako on behalf of DEVCOMS.

Read more about the ONE Africa Award here!

More pictures below…

The winner of the ONE Africa Award 2008 was announced in Accra yesterday. It was a very special occasion for ONE and we were delighted that ONE’s Policy Advisory Board member, Mr. K.Y. Amoako from Ghana agreed to make the presentation. In a surprising move, ONE decided to give the award to an organization that engages the media in efforts to stop disease and save lives.

The winner, Development Communications (DEVCOMS) Network, is a Nigerian media training and mentoring group that works with the media to improve public health. Based in the sprawling metropolis of Lagos, DEVCOMS trains and mentors journalists in public health issues and science journalism. While media may not seem an obvious player in achieving the MDGs, Akin Jimoh, DEVCOMS’ Programme Director, says information is critical for people to make well-informed decisions, especially about their health. His organization is also actively involved in advocacy efforts for free health care in Nigeria and has helped to improve both the quality and quantity of health journalism across the country.

DEVCOMS’ success is based on its long term approach to media relationships and development. Rather than running one-off training sessions, it collaborates closely with NGOs working on health issues to provide ongoing mentoring and immersion training for reporters through internships.

“We believe the silent sighs of our women and children have to stop” he said, dedicating the ONE Africa Award to the 140 women who die in Nigeria every day “giving life” and to the more than 300 children under the age of five who die every day from diarrhea, malaria and other preventable, treatable diseases. He also urged civil society organizations to help any journalist who knocks on their door. “We are all one in this” he said “ and this award reminds us of the work we have to do.”

ONE created this award to recognize the role of African individuals and organizations in achieving the MDGs. ONE plans to announce this award annually in honor of those who inspire and lead the fight against the injustice of extreme poverty.

“Information is power” said Mr Amoako when he announced DEVCOMS as the winner, “for citizens, for civil society and for governments. We will all do a better job of fighting poverty with better information and debate. DEVCOMS makes that critical link between the practical daily work of improving public health services, with citizens, through the media.”

Check back later for photos and video from the ceremony.

-Katy Cronin

Read more about the ONE Award here!

This Friday, August 15th is the final day to submit applications for the ONE Africa Award, a new award designed by ONE to showcase African efforts in the fight against poverty. The $100,000 award is chance for ONE to celebrate some of the innovative work being done by Africans to achieve the MDGs and promote accountability in sub-Saharan Africa.

You can learn more about the award and download the application here.

-Nora Coghlan

I am delighted to let you know that we have just launched the ONE Africa Award, an exciting new $100,000 grant for African individuals and organizations, based in Africa, leading the fight against poverty. ONE aims to showcase civil society working on bringing about change amongst the poorest people in Africa. This award for best practice will consider accountable organizations that can demonstrate their commitment and success in assisting Africans to meet the Millennium Development Goals.

African civil society has an extremely important role to play in advancing the development agenda, either through their own action, or as a monitoring body of government implemented programs, ensuring that money goes where it is most needed. We launched the call for applications on July 15th and will continue to receive applications until August 15th. This is our first award, and through this effort, we hope that we can best showcase the individuals and organizations that are doing amazing work, everyday, for African people.

I would be delighted if you could pass on this information on to individuals and organizations that you think would qualify. More information is available here.

-Edith Jibunoh, ONE’s Africa Outreach Manager, Abuja, Nigeria