Unicef yesterday conferred the sixth annual Meena Media Awards 2010 to 21 journalists, documentary makers and writers for their outstanding work in promoting child rights.
Award winners and nominees were selected from around 400 entries in two major categories: journalistic and creative, for both print and electronic media.
UNICEF Representative Carel de Rooy handed over the crests and certificates to the winners in a award giving ceremony here today.
Congratulating the winners Carel de Rooy said “You have done the children of this country a great service by bringing children’s voices and issues to the forefront.”
News reports draw attention to violations of children’s rights and make the Governments, civil society, communities and families accountable towards the issues.
“But a lot more needs to be done,” he said adding that a recent study supported by Unicef shows that the media in Bangladesh are under reporting on children’s issues despite the fact that around 45 per cent of the total population of Bangladesh is under 18 years old.
First, second and third prize recipients in each category and age group received prize money of Taka 50,000, Taka 25,000 and Taka 15,000 respectively.
Eminent personalities from the fields of literature, journalism, film and documentary, and academia made up the panel of judges who adhered to a rigorous and transparent process to select the winners.
Names, of participants and their media houses were not revealed until the final decisions were made.
UNICEF introduced the Meena Media Awards in 2005 to promote
child rights. The award is named after Meena, the popular child
animation character who raised her voice on the rights of
children.
DHAKA, Nov 29 (BSS)