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© UNICEF/2008/Markisz

From left: Kingsley Obeng-Kyereh, Gideon Tuffuor Amponsah and Naa Aforkor Tetteh of Ghana Broadcasting Corporation’s ‘Curious Minds’ programme were the winners of the 2008 ICDB Award for radio.

November 11, 2008 - ICDB annual award goes to Ghanaian and Chinese broadcasters

Broadcasters from Ghana and the People’s Republic of China were named the winners of the 2008 International Children’s Day of Broadcasting Award in a ceremony held last night and attended by the regional finalists in the annual contest.

For the first time since establishing the award in 1994, UNICEF selected a radio broadcaster as well as a television broadcaster as the recipients.

Producers from the ‘Curious Minds’ youth programme on Ghana Broadcasting Corporation accepted the radio award. “I’m very excited. I’m even short of words,” said producer Naa Aforkor Tetteh, 16. “We’re going back home and telling our friends, ‘We really made it.’”

From the finalists in television broadcasting, the China Central Television children’s channel in China was selected for its hour-long documentary ‘On the Way’, which chronicled the daily commutes to school of 20 children from across China.

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video links: ceremony - Ghana - China

November 10, 2008 - Dubai International Film Festival Sponsors Oneminutesjr Video Workshop for Students in Nigeria

Thanks to the generous support of the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) which celebrates its fifth anniversary in December, about twenty Nigerian students in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, will have the opportunity to attend a one week documentary-making workshop from 13 to 17 November. The theme of the workshop is “Daily Life and Dreams”.  Participants will have the chance to express themselves and create their own videos based on this theme.

“It will be a fun and exciting five days, where (students) learn about video making and storytelling and get the chance to make their your own one minute video”, notes Kareen Cirillo, Executive Producer, Children's Broadcasting Initiatives, UNICEF, New York. The workshop is being held in partnership with Nigeria’s foremost youth media organisation, the Youth Media & Communication Initiative (YMCI).

Resources persons are expected from UNICEF, New York, the Sandberg Institute in the Netherlands and from Australia. Every year, the European Cultural Foundation (ECF), UNICEF and the One Minutes Foundation organise workshops all over the globe to give youngsters between the ages of 12-20 a chance to create their own one minute videos. The oneminutesjr videos are sixty-second videos on different issues of concern to young people. Time may be limited in a oneminutesjr video (this challenges the youngsters to form their ideas clearly), but not the freedom to express oneself creatively, which is the basic right of every person.

The finished documentaries from the Abuja workshop will be shown at a large screening to family and friends at the end of the workshop and also shown at the Dubai International Film Festival which holds from December 11-18, 2008.

Since its first edition in 2004, DIFF has established itself as an important cultural event in Dubai and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). There has been a remarkable growth in the number of films presented and an increased interest in audience numbers. The festival has also seen a similar growth in the attendance of key international and regional filmmakers, industry professionals and members of the local, regional and international press.

November 10, 2008 - Karamoja gets radios

The Straight Talk Foundation, in partnership with the UN children's agency (UNICEF), has distributed 5,339 radios to the communities in Uganda's Karamoja sub-region.

Straight Talk project manager Martin Oenen said on Thursday that the organisation got concerned about the plight of communities in Karamoja and requested UNICEF for support. UNICEF sent the consignment. Oenen said there was need to have the communities' capacity building strengthened by delivering adequate information on health and education, because the Karimojong have for so long been cattle-centred.

"We wanted the communities to be able listen to programmes so that they can follow up the one-month child survival campaign which has been concluded," Oenen said. UNICEF has been running a child survival campaign in the sub-region, which carried a holistic approach that encompassed children and mother survival.

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November 1, 2008 - Young artists raise thousands for UNICEF at auction of paintings

Child artists from around the world have raised $21,000 for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to spend on climate-related disasters by auctioning off 26 of their paintings in New York last night.

The auction, held last night at the Harvard Club, was organized by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) as part of its Paint for the Planet event, which attracted nearly 200,000 entries worldwide.

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October 28, 2008 - Award for World's Best Educational Pre-School Media in 2008 Goes to Ethiopia

"Tsehai Loves Learning" wins Pre-School Category at Japan Prize 2008 International Contest for Educational Media

Tokyo, Japan, 28 October 2008 – "Tsehai Loves Learning," a popular educational children's media project in the local Ethiopian language of Amharic, won the top prize in the pre-school category at the Japan Prize 2008 International Contest for Educational Media.  Beyond the international recognition associated with this award, the prize includes an ornate trophy and $3,000 USD. "Tsehai Loves Learning" topped 30 other programs which were entered into the category from around the globe.  The Japan Prize was established in 1965 by national Japanese broadcaster NHK.  The annual festival honors the top educational programs world-wide.

At the award ceremony, project co-founder Bruktawit Tigabu was honored with the chance to meet and discuss her efforts with His and Her Imperial Highnesses Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako, heirs apparent to the Japanese throne.

"We were competing against educational television programs, Web sites, games, and interactive toys from places like Germany, Sweden, Canada, the United States, and Japan.  Most of these programs have budgets that are at least 10 to 20 times higher than ours, so we were just happy to be accepted to this contest.  It's such a thrill to win," said Bruktawit.

The winning episode of "Tsehai Loves Learning" centered on understanding love.  "In this episode our main character Tsehai, a six-year old giraffe, learns all about love: how it feels, what it means, and how challenging it can be to express it, all through the care of her pet butterfly," said Bruktawit.  The episode also employs phonetic methods to help children learn the Amharic letter "Seh."

This is the second major international award won by "Tsehai Loves Learning," in 2008.  Whiz Kids Workshop, the creators of "Tsehai Loves Learning," also won the Prix Jeunesse 2008 International Children's Television Festival – "Next Generation Prize" in Munich, Germany this past May, for the episode "Tsinat" about the care of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS.  "The Prix Jeunesse prize recognized 'Tsehai Loves Learning' for its social impact as well as the quality of the production relative to its low budget," said co-founder Shane Etzenhouser.  "Japan Prize focuses on the educational value of the content, so 'Tsehai' has now been recognized internationally for quality, social impact, and educational value.

"It's very hard to make this show, and even harder to get it out to the children of Ethiopia.  Sometimes we get very discouraged.  It's really wonderful to win a prize like this; it encourages us to keep trying, and hopefully makes it a little easier to win international support for our efforts," stated Etzenhouser.

The show's creators were able to attend the festival thanks to the UNESCO field office in Addis Ababa.  "UNESCO was the first organization to believe in our project, and continues to be our most consistent partner.  They are helping to build the capacity of this project through trainings and through networking opportunities like this one," said Bruktawit.  "We made many connections with children's television producers and broadcasters throughout the world. We're hopeful that this prize and the connections made will lead to something which will really stabilize the 'Tsehai Loves Learning' project," said Etzenhouser.

Whiz Kids Workshop is an Ethiopian production company that focuses on serving children through educational media.

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