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Namibia wins Emmy for children's broadcasting

Monday, 24 November 1997: The 1997 International Council/UNICEF Award has gone to the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) for its outstanding programme during the 1996 International Children's Day of Broadcasting. The statuette was presented at the 25th International Emmy Awards in New York yesterday to NBC Director-General Dr. Ben Molungeni by actress Fran Drescher and UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Karin Sham Poo.

More then 250 children helped produce the award winning nine-hour International Children's Day of Broadcasting special. The show included a live satellite link-up between NBC and the South African Broadcasting Corporation to let children exchange views across Africa. South African President Nelson Mandela officially opened the live link-up. Namibian President Dr. Sam Nujoma was interviewed by young reporters. Internet chat groups were set up and staffed by multilingual children so messages could be posted around the world.

The International Children's Day of Broadcasting is celebrated every year on the second Sunday of December. It gives children a chance to express themselves using a medium normally controlled by adults. More than 2,000 broadcasters from 170 countries now "tune in to kids" on the day.

The Namibian Broadcasting Corporation was one of three nominees for the special Emmy Award. The others were YTV, Canada, and TV Cultura, Brazil. On YTV, from 5:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. kids "ruled" as they hosted an entire day of programming. TV Cultura in Brazil produced 11 special programmes for the Day, aired over 12 hours.

"We have three major regional broadcasters -- selected from 11 incredible semi-finalists -- who, combined, dedicated more then 48 hours of air time and countless hours of planning to children and children's programming," explains William Hetzer, Chief of Broadcast and Electronic Communication at UNICEF.

In 1994, The International Council of the US National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) created the International Council/UNICEF Award to acknowledge broadcasters that participate in this annual event and to recognize the unique special presentations they produce.

"The Award was created to help get more stations on board and to set the highest possible standards for that participation," explains Art Kane, Executive Director of the International Council. "The Award is also intended to promote programming that grabs the hearts and minds of kids and gives them the opportunity to speak up and be heard."

This is the third year that the International Council/UNICEF Award has been presented. The two previous winners were Sabado Chiquito De Corporan of the Dominican Republic in 1995 and TV Ontario, Canada, in 1996.

The Sixth Annual International Children's Day of Broadcasting will take place on Sunday, 14 December 1997.

Some broadcasters who are already planning to take part are: 14 UPN stations, USA; Nickelodeon Latin America & Nickelodeon UK; Cartoon Network, The Netherlands; The Family Channel, Latin America; ABC, Australia; RCTI, Indonesia; The History Channel, USA; CBC, Canada; SABC, South Africa; Wharf Cable, Hong Kong: USA Network, USA.