OSCE, Yerevan, 27 Jan 2009 – A television report on a female taxi driver and a radio report on a female trolley bus driver were among winners announced today in an OSCE-supported competition awarding media for coverage of women’s achievements in the political, economic and social fields.
TV, radio, print media and online reports as well as advertisements were awarded in a ceremony in Yerevan as part of the “A couple of words about women” media contest, organized by the OSCE Office in Yerevan and the British Council Armenia.
About 70 media outlets took part in the contest. Ajury including prominent journalists and gender experts selected the top three entries in each category.
“One of the key challenges in Armenia today is that women’s talents are not fully utilized and that the media are not properly covering the role women play and can play to help move Armenia forward,” said Sven Holdar, Democratization Officer at the OSCE Office in Yerevan.
“With this competition, which we hope will become an annual event, we want to encourage more such coverage.”
First-place winners received 250 euros and a silver statuette.
The best TV report prize was shared between Gala TV for a report on a female taxi driver and the Internews non-governmental organization for a programme on the difficulties of women in rural areas that also featured successful Armenian and Georgian women.
Armenian Public Radio won the radio category with a story told by Yerevan’s only female trolley bus driver, while an advertisement produced by Altera production company titled “No to domestic violence” won the social advertisement category.
The competition formed part of the OSCE Office’s work to empower Armenian women. Other activities in this field include plans to establish women’s resource centres in the Syunik region, gender-sensitivity training courses for journalists and editors as well as support for efforts to improve the implementation of Armenia’s gender legislation.
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