Ghana’s Kofi Adu Domfeh is among fifteen African journalists shortlisted for the 2014 African Climate Change and Environmental Reporting (ACCER) Awards.
The announcement was made an event in Nairobi, Kenya on World Environment Day.
The competition is an initiative of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Oxfam and other partners.
UNEP’s Ms. Angele Luh, a member of the Award Jury Team of the 2014 ACCER Awards who announced the finalists noted that ‘the standards of written expression were sometimes worrying’.
According to her, some of the entrants need training in basic writing skills and also need to embrace the basic rhythms of disciplined thinking and controlled writing.
‘Their predicament is easily compounded by having to address a technical subject like climate change. Proper training for such journalists would do well to combine both the substance of reporting the environment and journalistic skills generally,’ she recommended.
The ACCER Awards is to recognize journalists from across Africa that have, through their reporting, contributed to the understanding and conceptualization of climate change and environment as broader issue affecting development efforts.
‘This second edition has attracted a lot of interest, with 309 entries received from across Africa compared to last year’s 110 entries’ said Dr. Joseph Kiyimba, PACJA Communication Manager. ‘This event marks the end of a four-month process of collection, collation, judging and identification of recipients of the Awards, to recognize the outstanding climate change and environmental journalists across Africa who have scooped various Awards in this vigorous competition.’
The finalists drawn from print, radio, television and multimedia, include Zeynab Wandati, Bob Koigi, Rose Wangui, Noala Luka, Jacob Safari and Patrick Mayoyo, all from Kenya.
Others are Greg Odogwu, Nigeria; Arison Tamfu, Cameroon; Kofi Adu Domfeh, Ghana; Violate Mengo, Zambia; Michael Wambi, Uganda and Busani Bafana, Zimbabwe. The rest of the nominees are Diane Nininahazwe, Burundi; Didier Hubert Madafime, Benin; and Gabriel Adonou, Togo.
Domfeh, who works with Luv Fm in Kumasi – a radio station owned by the Multimedia Group Limited – was runner-up in the maiden edition of the Awards last year.
PACJA co-Chair, Dr. Habtemariam Abate said that the ACCER Awards is in line with PACJA strategic objectives of building the capacity of African journalists which gave birth to African Media Alliance for Climate Change (PAMACC).
He stated that PACJA will later this year commence The ACCER Awards Finalists Academy (TAAFA).
Kenya’s Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Water and Natural Resources, Dr. Richard Lesiyampe in a statement said ‘we hope that the ACCER Awards will help to build an enhanced African profile that assures the continent’s visibility in international climate change dialogue processes’.
The climax of the Awards competition will be a Gala Night on June 25, 2014 at the sidelines of the UN Environment Assembly which takes place on June 23-27 in Nairobi.
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