The International Cocoa Initiative (ICI) presented three awards at the Ghana Journalists Awards, the most prestigious journalism awards in the country.
Held each year, the GJA awards, organised by the Ghana Journalist Association, promotes excellence in journalism, based on the journalistic standards of accuracy, balance, relevance, background, social impact, ethical standards and language presentation. The 21st edition of the awards honoured 20 journalists in various categories, including investigative journalism, sports, health, human rights and rural reporting.
ICI presented the awards to Mr. Randy Abbey & Metro TV - Honorary Citation for Excellence in Journalism; Mr. Famous Kwesi Atitsogbe (Multimedia Group) for Best SME journalist; and Best Oil & Gas Reporter, Mr. Dotsey Koblah Aklorbortu (Graphic Business).
With the passage of the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in September of 2015, the SME and Oil and Gas sectors expect to replicate projects which are targeted to reach children and women as they remain a core part of the vulnerable in society.
The Rural Reporting with emphasis on Eliminating Worst Forms of Child Labour award was instituted last year by ICI, as an incentive to promote rural reporting, especially in cocoa growing.
Commenting on the decision of the Award Committee on why no one met the criteria for this category, this year, Dr. Affail Monney, GJA President, acknowledged the high standards of the committee and noted that the award was instituted to highlight "outstanding" journalistic skills. "When we created the category a year ago, we deliberately set a very high bar... We want the award to shine a spotlight on outstanding rural reporting promoting the Eliminating Worst Forms of Child Labour to provide role models right across our society, as well as supporting civil society to serve the country by sharing their wisdom and experience," he said.
Avril Kudzi, ICI National Coordintor added that the key lesson here is for most media to go the extra mile to reace out for what they can classify as news, also in cocoa growing communities. She said ICI considers the media as valuable partners in the promotion of child protection and will work with them to further develop their capacity in child protection and also support their field visits.
ICI works in cocoa-producing countries to ensure a better future for children and to contribute to the elimination of child labour. Working in Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire for the past eight years, ICI has promoted holistic child protection measures in more than 500 cocoa-growing communities across the two countries.