Shujaaz wins prestigious One World Media Award
11 May 2011

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At a ceremony in London last night Shujaaz was announced as this year's recipient of the One World Media Special Award. The award is presented for an outstanding project working on the ground in the developing world, where media activity has made a real impact on people's lives.

Alan Duncan UK Minister for International Development with Peter Paul Kadez, actor, writer and voice of DJ Boyie, and DJ Boyie cartoon character

Shujaaz is an innovative multimedia youth communication initiative which combines 600,000 monthly free comics, daily broadcasts on 22 syndicated radio stations and social media to engage with young people in Kenya.

Shujaaz features a broad range of issues which are designed to help young people improve their lives. DFID-Research Into Use has worked closely with Shujaaz from the outset offering financial support, ideas for stories and brokering contacts. So every monthly issue of Shujaaz produced has included ideas for making money out of agricultural innovation; other stories have looked at tackling tribalism and the aftermath of the post-election violence, governance, micro enterprise and broader human rights. Support for the project draws together both private sector and international development funding.

Rob Burnet, the social entrepreneur behind Shujaaz, said:

"Shujaaz features four young Kenyans whose stories evolve each month as they engage with a range of social issues and ideas to help them get on in the world. We deliberately merge facts and fiction so that we can cover hard hitting material using advocates that our young audience have grown to trust and respect. Our regular readership is now around 6 million and judging by the text and Facebook messages we get each day we are making a real difference.

Winning the One World Media Award is fantastic validation of the impact Shujaaz is having on the lives of millions of young Kenyans. It has been a huge amount of work to create East Africa's largest circulation publication in just over 12 months...but it has been worth it."

International Development Minister Alan Duncan said:

"Shujaaz is an incredibly effective way of communicating information to young Kenyans and their families, including poor farmers often in remote areas. It has provided vital guidance on farming techniques that can directly improve people's lives, with stories ranging from ways of preventing livestock disease through to how to improve crop yield. I'm delighted that it has won."

Peter Paul Kadez, actor, writer and voice of DJ Boyie; cartoon of Marie Kim; Rob Burnet, Director of Shujaaz; Alan Duncan UK Minister for International Development; Eunice Maina, radio editor at Shujaaz; cartoon of DJ Bowie.

Ian Maudlin, Director of RIU, said:

"It is hugely gratifying to see Shujaaz, as an RIU funded initiative, reach such a pinnacle of achievement within such a short space of time. For me, it is even more important to see young, charismatic individuals like Kades having the opportunity to achieve their potential, under the wing of the RIU, as we are actively trying to support such young entrepreneurs; they are the future and that future is looking brighter and brighter."

The One World Media Awards will be broadcast on BBC World News on:

• Saturday 14 May at 09:10 and 21:10 GMT
• Sunday 15 May at 02:10 and 15:10 GMT

Note

About the One World Media Awards
The One World Media Awards recognise excellence in the UK media's coverage of the developing world. Hosted by Jon Snow and broadcast to a global audience on BBC World News, they highlight the unique role of journalists, filmmakers and broadcasters in bridging the divide between cultures and bringing the realities of the wider world home to the UK.

One World Media Special Award
The One World Media Special Award is sponsored by the Thompson Foundation. The purpose of the award is to demonstrate the value of media in progressing development and human rights. It is presented for an outstanding project working on the ground in the developing world, where media activity has made a real impact on people's lives.

The judges looked for projects:

• with a wider reach and a greater impact
• they consider to offer new and innovative ways of reaching a wider audience
• that make sure that local views and voices are incorporated
• that evidence of lasting beneficial impacts on the local community
• that have made an impression on public opinion or government policy and have an enduring success
• which evidence sustainability, i.e. national/local commitment to financial support for the longer term