The Guardian International Development Journalism Competition was the brainchild of Marie Stopes International and was designed, in partnership with the Guardian, to motivate and encourage new and existing journalists to write about international development issues.
The groundbreaking competition was launched in March 2008 with both amateur and freelance professional journalists encouraged to submit articles on key development issues. It has been one of the most successful competitions ever run at the Guardian, attracting a large number of high quality entries every year and motivating a new generation of journalists to write about some of the most important global issues facing the developing world today.
Marie Stopes International and the Guardian agreed that an Award to honour those in international development would be a great way to highlight the issues among the general public even further.
In 2009, the Award was developed and launched to recognise outstanding achievements in international development by individuals and media professionals. Following a public vote Maggy Barankitse, founder of Maison Shalom, a home for children orphaned by conflict and HIV/Aids in the small town of Burundi, was awarded the deserved winner of the inaugural Award. In 2010 the Award went to Odette Kayirere who started a widows' association in Rwanda following the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Marie Stopes International is delighted to be sponsoring this Award as it will help raise the profile of some exceptional people; the unsung heroes of development.
Marie Stopes International has been delivering family planning and sexual healthcare to millions of the world's poorest and most vulnerable women in more than 40 countries for the past thirty years. We provide many high quality health services, including family planning; safe abortion & post-abortion care; maternal & child health care including safe delivery and obstetrics; diagnosis & treatment of sexually transmitted infections; and HIV/AIDS prevention. In doing so, Marie Stopes International prevents unnecessary deaths and makes a sustainable impact on the lives of millions of people every year. Our clients are at the centre of everything we do; through our innovation and partnerships, underserved women and couples are able to access services and make choices about their sexual and reproductive health. The Marie Stopes International Global Partnership continues to grow, with programmes in 43 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America.
You can now follow Marie Stopes International on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
For further information please contact: Nicole Brown, Communications Advisor at Marie Stopes International
Tel: 020 7034 2343
Email: nicole.brown@mariestopes.org
www.mariestopes.org
