AWIM 22: Winners of AU 2063 Pitch Zone announced

Winners of the African Union Agenda 2063 Awards Pitch Zone were announced during the closing ceremony of the sixth African Women in Media Conference (AWiM), which took place in Fez, Morocco on 9th December.
The winners received $3000 to support their production of in-depth, data-rich and evidenced-based stories that reflect the progress and impact of the implementation of Agenda 2063 under each thematic area. The stories are produced in at least two languages of the African Union.
Each year,during the annual African Women in Media Conference, female journalists drawn from the continent are given the opportunity to pitch stories in the five categories to organisations who have partnered with AWIM to create a platform for female journalists and other media practitioners to engage and discuss key issues of the day.
The AWIM Pitch Zone is unique in its setting in that it provides journalists a setting where they can showcase their creativity and ultimately be awarded the funding that will support their ambitions to see their stories come to life and give a voice to the communities represented in their final work.

This year, only three winners were announced, two other categories which are Re-branding Africa – Changing Narratives and perceptions (related to Agenda 2063, Aspiration 7) and Africa’s Digital transformation Strategy – Positioning Africa for the 4th Industrial Revolution (related to Agenda 2063 Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa) are still open for journalists to pitch.
The winners in the three categories were:
Melody Chikono – Promoting the Rights of Children in Africa (Agenda 2063 Aspiration 6, African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of Children).

Marie-Therese Nanlong – AU Theme of the Year 2022 – The Year of Nutrition “Strengthening resilience in nutrition and food security on the African continent: Strengthening agro-food systems, health and social protection systems for the acceleration of human, social and economic capital development).
Elizabeth Angira – Promoting efforts towards the Economic and Financial Inclusion of African Women (Agenda 2063 Aspiration 6, AU Gender Equality and women’s Empowerment Strategy, GEWE; African Charter on The Rights of Women in Africa, AU Constitutive Act).

The closing ceremony was officiated by the Communication Officer of the African Union Commission Ms Wynne Musabayana on behalf of Ms Leslie Richer, AU Director of Information and Communication.
While handing the awards, she emphasised, “with the funding received, each winner will have sufficient means to produce relevant, evidence-based and timely content in their chosen format: content that digs deep into the issues to answer the famous five W’s and one H of journalism.”
Dr Yemisi Akinbobola, the CEO and co-founder of AWiM reaffirmed the vision of the Pitch Zone to give African women journalists an opportunity to develop and produce in-depth stories that give them the level of visibility they need for their career growth and development.
“Our partnership with the African Union since 2019 in achieving this means that the winners get continental exposure and are at the same time contributing to the broader objective of changing the narrative of Africa. Our research shows that allocation of resources and roles in newsrooms are often gendered, and we hope the Pitch Zone Awards continues to do its part in bridging this gap”, Dr Yemisi stated.
For his part, the president and co-founder of the International Institute of Languages and Cultures of Fez, Dr Moha Ennaji, explained that the presentation of the “three prizes aims to support and encourage the serious, distinguished and effective production carried out by African women journalists to support the development of the continent in order to achieve the African Union’s Agenda 2063.”
Dr Ennaji who was also one of the organizing partners of this sixth conference added that strengthening women’s position in the media through an approach that includes training and professional integration would also help in improving the image of African women in the media.

The ceremony was also attended by various dignitaries from Fez City.