Journalism Competition Shows HIV Still High On The Public Agenda

An overwhelming response to the innovative Guardian International Development Journalism Competition from amateur and professional journalists has shown that HIV is still high on the public agenda.

HIV was the second most popular of the eight subject areas the journalists could write about, coming closely behind issues on children in the developing world.

Alvaro Bermejo, Executive Director of the International HIV/AIDS Alliance said,” It’s encouraging to see the positive response to the competition. We’re pleased with the high numbers of people writing about HIV. It shows the issue is still high on the public’s agenda.”

The competition has now reached its final stages with the announcement of 16 finalists.

“The three finalist’s articles on HIV are excellent and we wish them and the other 13 finalists the best of luck in the next stages,” added Alvaro Bermejo.

The competition is a collaboration between the Guardian newspaper, International HIV/AIDS Alliance and seven other non-government organisations (NGOs). It was launched in March with the financial support of the Department for International Development (DFID).

In just four months the competition microsite on the Guardian Unlimited website has had phenomenal throughput and ‘dwell time’ for a microsite.

“The competition microsite proved to be incredibly popular; there were over 16,000 visitors who spent far longer than usual on a site of this type,” said Julian Rose, head of advertising and sponsorship at Guardian Professional. “We have also been very impressed by the number of entries, especially given the nature of the competition and the length of the article required.”

Douglas Alexander, International Development Secretary, said, “I am delighted there were so many entries to the competition and that the standard of articles was so high. This highlights the UK public’s growing interest in global poverty and issues relating to international development. I look forward to reading the winning submissions in due course.”

Two of the sixteen finalists will now be given assignments to write about HIV and taken on trips to countries in Africa and Asia so that they can experience and investigate these issues first hand. The winners - one professional journalist and one amateur - will be announced in November when all the final assignments will be published by the Guardian newspaper in special supplements.

The other NGO partners in the project are Marie Stopes International, Camfed International, HelpAge International, Malaria Consortium, Plan UK, Sightsavers International and WaterAid.

To view the articles, visit www.guardian.co.uk/developmentcompetition

Notes

The project partners include: The Guardian, Department for International Development, International HIV/AIDS Alliance, Marie Stopes International, Camfed International, HelpAge International, Malaria Consortium, Plan UK, Sightsavers International and WaterAid.

Entrants could write about any of the following development topics:

- Family planning, safe and unsafe abortion, reproductive health in emergency settings, safe motherhood.

- HIV prevention, universal access to HIV treatment, the role of communities in overcoming HIV.

- Water wars, water scarcity, the present water crisis.

- Access to malaria treatment, malaria & complex emergencies, preventing child deaths, neglected tropical diseases.

- Children in conflict, children in a changing climate, giving children a voice.

- Women as a catalyst for change, the impact of educating girls.

- Ageing population, older carers, pensions not poverty.

- Eliminating avoidable blindness, disability and poverty, education for disabled children, social protection

The International HIV/AIDS Alliance (the Alliance) is a global partnership of nationally-based organisations working to support communities to reduce the spread of HIV and meet the challenge of AIDS.

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