Seven journalists win prestigious media awards for excellence in reporting on critical water, sanitation and hygiene issues

Geneva/Stockholm, 5 September 2014 – Seven journalists were named today as winners of the “2014 WASH Media Awards” competition for their excellence in reporting on water, sanitation and hygiene-related (WASH) issues.

The journalists, their winning entries, and the award categories are:

• Marcelo Leite (Brazil): “The Battle of Belo Monte” (Category: Water and Energy)
• Natasha Khan (Canada) and Ketaki Gokhale (USA) “No Menstrual Hygiene For Indian Women Holds Economy Back”  (Category: Equity and Inclusion in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene)
• Seun Aikoye (Nigeria):“Lagosians shun public toilets as open defecation continues” (Category: Ending Open Defecation)
• Mbali Chiya (South Africa): “Human Rights to Water and Sanitation”(Category: The Human Right to Water and Sanitation)
• Umaru Sanda Amadu (Ghana): “Water Wahala”(Category: WASH in the Future: The Post-2015 Development Agenda)
• Dilrukshi Handunnetti (Sri Lanka): “Sri Lankan Girls Miss out on Sanitation Gains” (Category: Monitoring WASH Commitments)

Learn more about the entries in the 2014 WASH Media Awards video.

The winners received their awards today during a ceremony at the closing plenary session of the annual World Water Week in Stockholm.  In Stockholm this week, the journalists shared their experiences with leading water, sanitation, environment and development experts. The week concluded with a 2014 Stockholm Statement on Water, a collection of films and papers calling for a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) on Water.

Journalists are key partners for sanitation, hygiene and water sector professionals in their awareness raising, advocacy and behaviour change work. Journalists play a central role in the highlighting of water and gender related issues and positioning of women as environmental leaders. They greatly contribute to bringing in the spotlight the too often neglected issues of the necessity of toilets and hand washing for a dignified, safe and healthy life for billions of people.

The biannual WASH Media Awards competition is sponsored by Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) and the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (www.wsscc.org) and More than 100 entries from 30 countries were evaluated by a Mr. Mark Tran, a notable international correspondent for The Guardian, UK.