Press
Release
Kenya and Colombia Win International
Television Awards
for Promoting Children's Rights
NEW YORK, 20 November 2001 - Broadcasters
in Kenya and Colombia left the stage at the 29th International
Emmy Awards on Monday with special Emmys for their promotion
of children's rights and children's participation in broadcasting.
ACE Communications (Kenya) and Canal Capital-Imaginario
(Colombia) won the awards for their outstanding contributions
to the 2001 "Say Yes for Children Campaign"
and the 2000 International Children's Day of Broadcasting,
respectively.
The awards were presented by UNICEF Goodwill
Ambassador Roger Moore and UNICEF Advocate Kristina Tholstrup
at the 29th International Emmy Awards Gala in New York
City Monday night.
"The International Council of NATAS is pleased to
once again expand on our relationship with UNICEF to promote
these very important initiatives," said Fred Cohen,
President of The International Council of NATAS, the world's
largest association of television networks and broadcasters.
"Our Board Members, all top-level broadcast executives
from around the world, have worked closely with UNICEF
for the past eight years. The Say Yes For Children campaign
and the International Children's Day of Broadcasting are
projects that we wholeheartedly support," he said.
Cohen is also Executive Vice President of CBS Broadcast
International and President of King World International.
Colombia's Canal Capital was recognized by the International
Council and UNICEF for its outstanding efforts during
last year's International Children's Day of Broadcasting
(ICDB). Canal Capital dedicated over 6 hours of original
programming to children, much of it produced by children
themselves. ICDB, celebrated annually by more than 2,000
stations worldwide on the second Sunday of December, gives
children a chance to express themselves by producing,
presenting and reporting for television and radio shows
around the world.
Alongside Canal Capital, TVCultura (Brazil), Namibian
Broadcasting Corporation (Namibia) and TeleLumiere (Lebanon)
were also nominated for the award..
The International Council expanded its relationship with
UNICEF by creating a special award this year to recognise
the most creative and effective promotion of Say Yes for
Children, an international sign-up campaign designed to
rally popular support for children's rights. Over 41 million
people have pledges their support and voted for what they
think are the three most important goals for children.
ACE Communications from Kenya won the competition over
30 other TV broadcasters who were in the running worldwide.
The other three finalists were TBC TV (Georgia), Electromedia
(The Philippines), and BBC1 - Newsround (United Kingdom).
"The support from the broadcasting industry for
the Say Yes campaign has been terrific," said Carol
Bellamy, Executive Director of UNICEF. "So far more
than 40 million people have signed on with their support
for children. and broadcasters played a significant role
in promoting the campaign. I extend a heartfelt thanks
to them all."
The Say Yes for Children campaign urges people everywhere
to pledge their commitment to 10 essential actions needed
to promote and protect children's live. International
television and radio networks and stations all over the
world created a variety of original programming for the
Say Yes campaign.
Broadcasters continue to mark the International
Children's Day of Broadcasting with distinctive and dynamic
programming produced in their own countries. This year's
ICDB will take place on Sunday, 9 December.
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For further information, please contact:
SSA Public Relations, Blanche
Frankel, 212-679-4750, bfrankel@ssapr.com
UNICEF, Denise
Searle, 212-326-6127, dsearle@unicef.org
The International Council of NATAS, MJ
Sorenson, 212-489-6969, mjs@iemmys.tv
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