The UNFPA, United Nations Population Fund, is bringing a new look and a new name to its annual Caribbean media competition which has been re-branded the UNFPA Caribbean Population Awards.

The UNFPA Caribbean Media Awards were first held in 1999, and since then the competition has attracted entries from a number of highly skilled and talented journalists across the region. Each year media workers from radio, television and print present their best work in population and development issues and vie for prizes from the UNFPA office for the English and Dutch-speaking Caribbean.

Now, after seven years of organising the awards (there was no competition in 2001 and 2002), the UNFPA has revamped the event in 2008. The UNFPA Caribbean Population Awards will offer prizes to journalists as well as to individuals, non-governmental organisations or groups working in the fields of population and development in the region.

Journalists from the English and Dutch- speaking Caribbean will be invited to submit high quality work on population related issues that have an impact on the achievement of poverty reduction and an

improved quality of life for the people of the region. Areas of focus include: Population Dynamics, Sexual and Reproductive Health, Gender Equality and Equity, Maternal Mortality/Safe Motherhood.

For the first time, the awards will this year recognise the outstanding work of an individual or group working in the field of population and development and reward achievements made in improving the health and welfare of the population served. UNFPA has re-branded the awards competition in order to:

Establish the UNFPA Population o Awards as a premier awards scheme worthy of the widest possible participation by regional journalists.

Broaden the scope of the awards o scheme to include individuals or groups for outstanding work in population, health and welfare

Develop an interest in the o coverage of population issues

Develop an interest in working in o population issues

New Name, New Look for Media Competition - The UNFPA Caribbean Population Awards

As was done in previous years, winning entries will be selected by a panel of distinguished panel of judges comprising journalists and representatives from the public and private sectors and civil society across the region. A winning entry will be chosen from print, radio and television categories, and winners, as well as entrants who place second and third, will receive cash prizes and certificates.

The individual or organisations vying for the non-media award will be nominated by a national committee and the winner will be selected by the same panel of judges.

This booklet provides information about the 2008 competition, guiding words on media and development from a senior Caribbean journalist and a look back at past competitions and past winners. Read and enjoy the articles, take a stroll down memory lane with photographs of past awards ceremonies and get ready for the new 2008 UNFPA Caribbean Population Awards!

Caribbean

Awards

2007 - Asha Javeed, Senior Reporter with the Trinidad Guardian and top prize winner in last year’s Caribbean Media Awards, receives her Platinum Award from Harold Robinson, UNFPA Representative for the English and Dutch-speaking Caribbean.

1999 - Linda Wint, widow of Jamaica Gleaner journalist Carl Wint, receives a scroll of honour on behalf of her late husband from UNFPA Representative, Oyebade Ajayi, at the first ever UNFPA Caribbean Media Awards in 1999. Mr Wint was honoured for his contribution to Caribbean development through journalism.

POPULATION

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Journalism CategoryThe competition is open to all print, radio and television journalists from the English and Dutch speaking Caribbean

Journalists may submit work on population related issues, published during the prescribed period and deemed to be of outstanding quality. UNFPA will announce the date when the competition will open for entries and the deadline for submission of entries. Entries in Dutch should be accompanied by an English translation.

Entrants should send TWO (2) copies each of their entry or entries to:Caribbean Media AwardsUNFPA, Office for the English and Dutch Speaking Caribbean IBM Building, 3rd Floor,52 Knutsford Boulevard,Kingston 5

OR to one of the following UNFPA Liaison Offices Belize: UN House, Roe Building,832 Coney Drive Belize City Belize, C.A.

Barbados/OECS (including Saint Lucia):UN House, Marine GardensChrist Church, Barbados, WI

Guyana:UN House, 42 Brickdam Place GeorgetownGuyana S.A.

Suriname: UN House, Hereenstraat 17 ParamariboSuriname

Trinidad & Tobago:UN House3 Chancery Lane, Port of SpainTrinidad Entries are first assessed by UNFPA staff to ensure that they meet all the requirements. The actual selection of winners is then made by a distinguished panel of judges from across the Caribbean. The judges will select three winners each (Platinum, Gold and Silver awardees) from the Print, Radio, and Television categories.

General Guidelines for the 2008 UNFPA Caribbean Population Awards

“The key concern isn’t about numbers but the distribution of population.”This is how Sir George Alleyne, the highly respected Chancellor of the University of the West Indies, accurately summarised a significant shift in the Caribbean’s population priorities in the early 21st century.

By extension, he was focusing attention on the mass media’s role -- the newspapers, radio and television stations, blogs, Internet news organisations and magazines -- in helping the island-nations and coastal states move to the next level, if you will, of population and development.

“In the Caribbean where the fertility rate is about two children per woman, the

The Media’s New Role, A Shift in Emphasis- By Tony Best (for UNFPA)

The winners will be honoured at the UNFPA Caribbean Population Awards Ceremony where they will each receive a cash prize and a certificate.

Non-Journalism CategoryThe 2008 Caribbean Population Award will recognize an individual or group for outstanding work in population and in improving the health and welfare of individuals. Nominees should have made a significant impact on the lives and health of the population served and have at least five year’s experience working in population issues.

Each UNFPA liaison office is responsible for establishing a National Committee to identify suitable candidates. Completed nomination forms will be submitted to the UNFPA Caribbean Office in Jamaica for review by the distinguished panel of judges. These judges will select the awardee who will be honoured at the UNFPA Caribbean Population Awards Ceremony and presented with a grant to support the organisation or individual’s development work.

concern is mainly about the distribution of the population, the major demographic changes that are taking place in the Caribbean,” Sir George, a former Director of the Pan American Health Organisation, said. “This has to be one of the major issues which the Caribbean has to address.”

In essence, gone are the days when the Caribbean was simply mainly concerned about reducing the pace of growth of its population. Dame Billie Miller, until recently Barbados’ Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and the recipient of the 2008 UNFPA Population Award, couldn’t agree more.

“Issues of health, education, migration,

housing and the environment all have serious population and demographic implications and the critical link is not only the size of our population but the quality of life of our people,” was the way she put it.

“The media’s role has been enhanced by the growth in the use of the new technology in our lives. It has extended both the reach and the impact of the organs of mass communications than ever before. That’s why it must have a broader interest than before.”

cont’d on page 8

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UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, office in Jamaica serves 21 countries in the English and Dutch-speaking Caribbean. UNFPA has provided support to the Caribbean since 1969 and remains the largest international source of population assistance to governments, non-governmental organizations and civil society.

The current UNFPA Country Programme in the Caribbean seeks to contribute to the reduction of poverty and to improve the quality of life of the people of the region, by promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender equality and equity, and by integrating population related factors into development strategies and plans. The Fund provides assistance to governments to achieve national priorities.

The UNFPA works with its various partners across the region to:

Design and support creative o policies and programmes that promote the health and inclusion of adolescents and young peopleProvide information and services o to help couples plan their familiesEncourage men to become o actively involved in nurturing their partners and childrenFacilitate training of health o care professionals and provide equipment and supplies in pursuit of the goal that “no woman should die giving life.”Provide assistance to countries to o source and deliver reproductive health commodities and equipmentPromote gender equality and o equityFund skills training programmes o to empower poor women and rural womenWork with under-served o populations such as persons with disabilities, youth in especially difficult circumstances and indigenous populations, ensuring that “everyone counts.”

Speak up for human rightso Speak out against the abuse of o women and girlsAnalyze data and assist countries o to conduct censuses, surveys and research on key population issuesHelp governments understand o the critical link between population and development in order to make poverty history.

The UNFPA recognises the importance of advocacy and communication to support its work in population and development. The creation of the UNFPA’s Caribbean Media Awards in 1999 is a clear indication of this. Through these awards, the UNFPA has encouraged excellence among regional journalists in reporting on population and development issues in the Caribbean.

UNFPA continues to stress the need for Caribbean journalists to actively participate in their society as communications and advocacy experts. The organisation believes that in the face of globalisation, Caribbean journalists have a critical role to play in placing issues relevant to the region’s people on the public agenda.

Re-branded as the Caribbean Population Awards in 2008, the UNFPA’s media awards programme remains committed to promoting quality coverage of population-related issues across the region and to supporting the journalist’s role as an advocate for development.

What We Do in the Caribbean

Guest speaker at the 2007 UNFPA Caribbean Media Awards, Dr. Ralph Hakkert (1st right) and UNFPA Representative, Harold Robinson (2nd right) along with Dr. Marcia De Castro, Resident Co-ordinator, United Nations, Trinidad & Tobago (2nd left) and the Honourable Welsey George, Parliamentary Secretary in Trindad and Tobago’s Health Ministry (1st left) pose with the 2007 Caribbean Media Awards winners at Queen’s Hall, St Ann’s in Trinidad.

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The 1999 Awardees (left to right) Linda Wint, widow of Carl Wint from Jamaica; Erica James from Jamaica; Sandra Chouthi from Trinidad; Susan Gosine from Trinidad; Julian Rodgers from Barbados; Natalie Campbell from Jamaica; Janice Ansine from Jamaica; Roxanne Gibbs from Barbados and Gillian Haughton from Jamaica show off their plaques and scrolls at the first ever UNFPA Caribbean Media Awards Ceremony.

Joannah Bharose from the Trinidad Express Newspaper accepts her Gold

Award (Print) at the 2004 Awards Ceremony.

Beauty with a Purpose: UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador and Miss World 1998, Wendy Fitzwilliam, addresses the audience at the 2005 Caribbean Media Awards.

UNFPA Representative, Harold Robinson (1st left) along with CARICOM Secretary General, Dr Edwin Carrington (centre), and UNFPA Regional Director, Latin American and Caribbean Division, Marisela Padron (5th right) pose with 2006 Caribbean Media Award Winners (left to right) Susan Simes from Jamaica, Natalie Edgecombe from Montserrat, Cedriann Martin from Trinidad and Tobago, Andrea Downer from Jamaica, Guyanese-born Judy Fitzpatrick from St Maarten, Lynford Simpson from Jamaica, Sasha Henriques from Jamaica and members of the Morning(Nationwide) News Team from Jamaica Emily Crooks, Naomi Francis, Marilyn Facey and Symerna Blake.

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The winners in the 2005 Caribbean Media Awards competition (left to right) - Sharda Ganga from Suriname, Cedriann Martin from Trinidad, Damian Mitchell from Jamaica, Sonja Simms from Jamaica, Carol Francis from Jamaica and Eulalee Thompson from Jamaica - pose with their certificates after the awards ceremony.

Natalie Edgecombe from Montserrat receives her Platinum Award from

Dr. Edwin Carrington, CARICOM Secretary General at the 2006 UNFPA

Caribbean Media Awards.

Patricia Watson from the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper receives her Platinum Award for work on a series on HIV and AIDS from UNFPA Representative Hetty Sarjeant at the 2004 Awards Ceremony. She won the award jointly with reporter Trudy Simpson.

The 2007 UNFPA Caribbean Media Awards Winners (left to right) Guayna-born Judy Fitzpatrick from St Maarten, Tyrone Reid from Jamaica, Asha Javeed from Trinidad and Tobago, Daraine Luton from Jamaica and Hazra Medica from Antigua show off their certificates at the

Queen’s Hall, Trinidad and Tobago.

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Cedriann Martin (Trinidad and Tobago) is a two time winner of Gold and Platinum Awards from the UNFPA. Ms Martin remains a freelance writer, working primarily for the Express Woman, a weekly magazine of the Trinidad Express Newspaper. She continues to write on a range of population issues including sexual and reproductive health and rights and gender. “Winning the UNFPA Awards, particularly the first one in 2005, provided an affirmation that my work in the sexual and reproductive health and rights realm is valuable and that there is a space for my explorative and creative approaches” she says.

Carol Martindale (Barbados) won a Gold Award in 2004 for her series of stories exploring issues such as sex work, HIV and AIDS and sexuality in Barbados which were published in the Barbados Nation. Ms Martindale is now Editor for the Sunday Sun. Her journalistic focus is now on “more bread and butter issues”– consumerism, the rising cost of living and the state of the economy. Her thoughts on winning the UNFPA Award are that, “It brought more recognition and focus to the issues that need to be addressed - issues that we feel comfortable sweeping under the carpet. It certainly brought personal pride and reward for work done.”

Damion Mitchell (Jamaica) was a reporter at the POWER 106 radio station in 2005 when he won a Platinum Award for an entry on domestic violence entitled “Murderous Rage.” His report told the harrowing story of a woman and her children who were savagely attacked by the man who should have been their protector. Now, Mr Mitchell is the Assistant News Editor at the Gleaner/POWER 106 newsroom. He says winning the Award “meant reaching a very significant milestone in my career and my overall development.”

Since 1999, the UNFPA has encouraged and rewarded media workers across the English and Dutch

speaking Caribbean for their work on a wide range of development issues.

Award winning entries have covered subjects such as domestic violence, sex work, urbanisation,

climate change, health, migration, HIV and AIDS, drug trafficking, poverty, mental illness and

adolescent sexual and reproductive health. Winners have hailed from Antigua, Barbados, Guyana,

Jamaica, Montserrat, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Lucia, Suriname and St Maarten.

A number of the Awards’ recipients continue to highlight important issues in the media. Others have

moved directly into development work or other fields. Let’s take a look at a few past winners and

find out where they are now:

Sharda Ganga (Suriname) took the Platinum Award (Television) in 2005 for her film “Wan Lob Tori” a Romeo and Juliet-style love story which also tackled the issues of HIV, stigma and discrimination. She is still involved in film making, theatre and television, which she balances with her “day job” as director of the NGO “Projekta.” She says the UNFPA Award “opened up a number of possibilities, one of which was the negotiation of a contract by CARICOM, financed by the World Bank, to further our involvement with HIV and film/theatre through the use of edutainment methods. The next film will be released on World AIDS Day 2008.” Sasha Henriques (Jamaica) won a Platinum Award in 2006 for her story, “Unwelcome Strangers: The Deportee Experience”, which she did as a reporter with Radio Jamaica. Ms. Henriques is now news editor at LOVE 101, a religious media house. She says she will always be interested in development issues, even though her current responsibilities do not allow her to pursue those interests. “The UNFPA Award validated my passion for social issues and has motivated me to further nurture such interests. But even without awards and accolades, the journey I take when doing such work would still be worth it,” Ms. Henriques states.

Indi McLymont-Lafayette (Jamaica) has won Gold and Platinum awards from the UNFPA in 2000 and 2003. She is no longer in mainstream media but is in “alternative media” focusing on communication for development.At present she is the Regional Director, Environment, at Panos Institute Caribbean. For her, winning the awards “cemented my desire to continue to use information as a tool to empower persons so that we can have a better society.”

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In 1999 the UNFPA introduced the media awards programme which “aimed at encouraging excellence in reporting on population and development issues in the region.”

In that inaugural year journalists from across the Caribbean were encouraged to submit entries from one of two categories: General Population and Development or Coverage of the UNFPA Youth Summit which had been held in Barbados in 1998. The rules stressed that entries should demonstrate consistent treatment of development issues with follow-up coverage, as no single story would be considered.

Janice Ansine, then a reporter at the Gleaner newspaper, was the sole recipient of a first place award in that first competition. The judges’ report noted that no work entered in the radio or television categories merited any of the top prizes. We caught up with Ms Ansine, now an environment specialist in the United Kingdom, to find out what this award meant to her.

Q: Why did you enter the UNFPA Caribbean Media Awards Competition in 1999?A: I saw the awards as an opportunity to showcase some of my work and highlight the issues I had written about to a broader Caribbean audience.

Q: What stories did you select to submit and why?A: This was a difficult decision as at that time my work focused on two main issues close to my heart - gender and the environment.

After some consideration I decided to enter two stories and an editorial piece I had written, all highlighting the issue of violence against women.

Q: How did you feel when you heard that you had won first prize in the print section of the competition?A: I was overwhelmed by the thought that my work had been recognised in this way. Especially since I heard the news just when I was leaving the media to pursue an MSc in Environmental Change and Management at the University of Oxford, UK.

Q: What was the most memorable thing about that awards ceremony?A: For me it was the thought that was put into ensuring that I could actually be there. The ceremony was scheduled to take place after I left to take up my scholarship at Oxford and the UNFPA decided to fly me back to Jamaica for the ceremony and I am eternally grateful that they were able to do so.

Q: Why did you choose to leave media and work in mainstream development? A: It was an interesting time actually, because I entered the awards when I was at a cross roads / turning point of my career. For me, winning this award reiterated my reasons for doing so by emphasising that my work could be doing so much more to facilitate change. I had decided to make the move from just writing about these

issues to actually preparing myself to do something about them. I wanted to be better able to communicate environmental issues to varied audiences in an informed and engaging manner that could actually stimulate them into action.

Q: Have you found your background as a media worker, and particularly a Caribbean media worker, helpful in your work in the development field?A: An emphatic yes! The grounding I received both as a reporter in Jamaica and through my earlier studies at the Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication lay the groundwork for the work I have done since leaving the media. I have been able to hone my skills as an Environment and Communications Specialist in both Jamaica and the UK. I have worked for various organisations in Jamaica creating varied communications tools, trained overseas volunteers preparing them to work in the environment sector in Jamaica, and managed a local environmental NGO. Since deciding to expand my experience in the UK I have done intensive research in biodiversity communications at a UN Centre and at the Cambridge University, managed environmental projects seeking to embed environmentally sustainable behaviour at the community level and to London’s ethnic businesses and I am now managing projects for the Open University seeking to communicate the rich diversity of Nature to the British public.

Janice Ansine - First Place Winner in the First UNFPA Caribbean Media Awards

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Of course, the countries remain deeply worried, as they should, about both the high rate of HIV/AIDS infection and its impact on their health and economic well-being while at the same time fighting hard to advance their civilisations and competitiveness in a world marked by globalisation. But the shift in priorities for the media away from population size must be in step with the crucial socio-economic debates in the various countries. After all, a primary function of the print and electronic media remains its role as a mirror of society, highlighting the strengths, weaknesses and, yes, the concerns of the people they serve. The concept of the media in terms of the reflection hypothesis isn’t abstract thinking. It’s real.

For instance, news institutions must elevate migration, as seen in the “brain drain” – the exodus of between 75-80 per cent of the doctors, nurses, engineers and other skilled professionals -- from Jamaica, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago to the rich nations that belong to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, to a higher spot on the radar screen. They must also zero in on human trafficking.

Just as important, is the question of longevity, its effect on the delivery of health care to the elderly and the length of time people spend on the job. In other words, with ageing populations now a fact of life throughout the Caribbean, the allocation of financial and other resources to meet

the needs of that growing segment of the population has become crucial.

All of these issues must be tackled and the media organisations should help countries come to grips with them, thus performing their essential function of being fora for the resolution of challenges.

It is the responsibility of the mass media as fora for the resolution of issues to help the various countries reach a consensus on these vital population questions.

Tony Best is a distinguished, veteran Caribbean journalist who has served as a judge in the UNFPA’s Caribbean Media Awards.

The Media’s New Role, A Shift in Emphasis(continued from page 2)

Caribbean Media Awards

Recipients 1999-2007

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