FRI now accepting applications for inaugural Liz Hughes Award for Her Farm Radio

Farm Radio International is now accepting applications for a new award to recognize radio programs that address gender equality and create opportunities to share the voices of rural women.

The Liz Hughes Award for Her Farm Radio will honour radio stations and production teams that live up to the values espoused by Farm Radio International’s former board member, Liz Hughes.

Liz was passionate about broadcasting and a champion of gender equality. The CBC broadcaster helped Farm Radio International to develop its FAIR journalistic standards, which emphasize Fairness and Balance, Accuracy, Integrity, and Respect. Sadly, Liz passed away in the spring of 2018, following a battle with breast cancer.

In rural sub-Saharan Africa, women play a vitally important role in farming, family, and the community. Yet they are more likely to experience extreme poverty, malnutrition, poor health, and have less access to and control over resources. It is essential that radio programs serve the needs and interests of women as well as men. In this way, both women and men can benefit from the information shared and have the potential to contribute to community development.

We offer resources for broadcasters on how to serve women farmers, and run specialized programs that have gender at their core.

It’s for those reasons we decided to honour Liz’s memory through the Liz Hughes Award for Her Farm Radio. We invite stations and program production teams to apply now by submitting details about a program they feel has particularly addressed or advanced gender equality for rural women.

Stations may submit multiple applications for multiple programs.

Applicants must fill out the linked form and submit both a typical program lineup and an MP3 recording of one of their episodes. These documents should be sent in one email to radio@farmradio.org. Stations may submit multiple applications for multiple programs. Please use the subject line: Liz Hughes Award for Her Farm Radio

Applications will be accepted in English, French, Amharic, Swahili, and Hausa. The episode recording may be in the language of broadcast.

The deadline to apply is Feb. 17, 2019

The winning broadcast team will receive a certificate and a $1,000 CAD prize in recognition of their excellent work.