SciDev.Net

Journalists from developing countries were awarded prizes last week for their reporting on water, sanitation and hygiene issues.

The WASH Media Award, established by the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council in 2002, went to Nadia El-Awady, an Egyptian journalist, and health and science editor of the IslamOnline news website.

El-Awady will receive US$500 plus an all-expenses paid trip to Dakar, Senegal, to attend the first WASH Global Forum in November 2004. Her winning entry, entitled 'The Nile and its people', discusses the pollution of the river that has been described as Egypt's 'vein of life'.

"This is an outstanding piece of journalistic work — clear, concise and investigative," said Robert Lamb, chair of the panel of judges.

Four runner-up prizes of US$250 each were awarded to Théodore Kouadio from the Ivory Coast for his article 'Access to drinking water', Andreas Harsono from Indonesia for an investigation entitled 'From the Thames to the Ciliwung', Ammara Durrani from Pakistan for her article 'The vulnerable water carriers', and Luis Enrique Lozada Fallardo from Peru for a series of radio features on environmental sanitation.

In addition, Suvecha Pant, a young Nepalese reporter, was awarded the Youth Reporter prize, a category for journalists under the age of 21. Her winning article related to arsenic-free water.

More than 100 entries from print, radio and television journalists were received and reviewed by an international panel of judges. Entries were submitted in English, French and Spanish, or were accompanied by a translation in one of these three languages.

Click here to read 'The Nile and its people' by Nadia El-Awady