UNFPA LAUNCHES ARAB MEDIA CONTEST

In the context of the United Nations review of the International Conference on Population and Development Programme of Action (ICPD PoA) commonly referred to as ICPD Beyond 2014 Review and on the occasion of the Population and Development Conference for Arab States in Cairo from 24-26 June 2013, the United Nations Population Fund Arab States Regional Office is pleased to launch the ICPD Arab Media Contest. This initiative is undertaken in collaboration with the Arab Press Union and the Egyptian Press Syndicate and aims at engaging journalists in Arab countries in promoting understanding and debating the ICPD PoA implementation in the Arab region. The terms and conditions of the ICPD Arab Media Contest are the following:

ELIGIBILITY OF CANDIDATES:

To be eligible for the article-writing competition the candidate must:

• Be a professional or free-lance journalist working in or for print press (daily, weekly, monthly), or online press (news site, blog) or audiovisual press (TV, online TV networks, radio) in the Arab region.
• Be a national of the following countries: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan, Oman, State of Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

Anyone not meeting all above criteria will not be eligible.

TOPICS

To enter the contest the candidate must produce one media piece (written article or audio/video report) on one or more of the following topics in the context of the Arab region:

• Aging,
• Demographic/democratic transitions,
• Family formation,
• Fertility plateau,
• Gender-based violence
• Women’s rights and empowerment
• Maternal health
• Internal and international migration
• Population, environment and climate change
• Youth empowerment and participation

FORMAT

Candidate can submit one of the below type of entries:

Option 1: Written Articles

• The article can consist of an opinion article, an investigative article, a human-interest story
• The article should not exceed 15,000 characters
• The article must be written in Arabic or English
• The article must have been published in a print or online media outlet in one of the countries listed above between 24th of June and 1st of August 2013.

Option 2: Video/Audio Report

• The video/audio report can consist of an opinion report, an investigative report, a human-interest story
• The video/audio report should not exceed 4:00 minutes
• The video/audio report must be in Arabic or English
• The video/audio report must have been broadcasted in TV, Web TV or radio in one of the countries listed above between 24th of June and 1st of August 2013.

EVALUATION OF ENTRIES

Entries will be judged on:

• Compliance with above eligibility, topic and format conditions
• Relevance to and understanding of ICPD themes
• Originality/creativity
• Writing/reporting style

PRIZE

• The two best media pieces will be selected from each category: 2 written articles and to 2 audio/video reports.
• Authors of the 4 winning media pieces (2 written articles + 2 audio/video reports) will be granted the honorary title of “Arab ICPD attaché” by UNFPA ASRO and the winner of each category will be invited to participate in an ICPD-related event during the course of 2014 with all fees covered by UNFPA.
• All winning media pieces will be published in UNFPA’s global, regional and/or country office websites.

DEADLINE

• Entries for contest must be received by email no later than 1st of August 2013, at 24:00 GMT.
• How to submit your entry
• Submit your entry via email at asro@unfpa.org. Please put “ICPD Arab Media Contest” in the subject header.
• Please include the following information when you submit your entry: Full name, Sex, Nationality, Profession, Employer (media outlet), Email, Phone number, and date of birth.
• Kindly provide a web link/print screen/scan/photocopy of the media piece featuring your name as a proof it was published/broadcasted in print/online/audiovisual media in one of the countries listed above between 24th of June and 1st of August 2013.

OTHER CONDITIONS AND TERMS

• Participants agree to share all copyright, trademark and intellectual property rights of all pieces produced under this contest with UNFPA. UNFPA reserves the right to publish and or use the articles for any purpose
• Selection of the articles for publication will be at the sole discretion of UNFPA
• Judges’ decisions on all matters is final and no correspondences will be entertained
• Non cash prizes cannot be exchanged or redeemed for cash and are non-transferrable
• UNFPA reserves the right to change any terms and conditions of the contest and substitute any non-cash prize without prior notice

CONTACT
UNFPA Arab States Regional Office, Communication Team, asro@unfpa.org

ICPD Beyond 2014 is the UN mandated review of the International Conference on Population and Development Programme of Action. The ICPD Beyond 2014 Review is an opportunity to influence the future of global population and development policy at national, regional and global levels. It provides a once in a generation chance to define what needs to be done to deliver a more equal, more sustainable world for the 7 billion people - and more - who share it. www.icpdbeyond2014.org