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First European journalism awards on population and development presented in Berlin

Dr Theo Sommer, Sietske Steneker, Prof Dr Udo Ernst Simonis and Hon Sybille Pfeiffer MP. Photo: Andrea Künzig, DSW

BERLIN – An international jury has awarded three European prizes for reporting excellence on sexual and reproductive health. The European awards are a first, while German prizes for population and development journalism were awarded for the second time.

Sietske Steneker, Director of the UNFPA Brussels Office, took part in a panel on population and development in the context of climate change during the ceremony, which took place at the Representation of the European Commission in Berlin.

“We know what needs to be done to bring down maternal mortality, and we have a plan: the ICPD Programme of Action”, said Ms Steneker. “What we need now, in this challenging time, is leaders’ commitment to make it happen."

The awards were organized by Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevölkerung, under the patronage of H.E. Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, German Minister for Development and Economic Cooperation. The Minister highlighted the important role of women in development and called for zero tolerance for all forms of violence against women.

First prize of the European awards went to Corinna Arndt (Germany, Die Zeit), second prize to Mary Kreutzer and Corinna Milborn (Austria, Der Standard) and third prize to Rob Vreeken (Netherlands, Volkskrant). The top German prize also went to Corinna Arndt (Die Zeit), with second prize to Thomas Kruchem (BR2 radio) and third to Bernd Hauser (Badische Zeitung). The European awards included submissions from Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain.

Moderator Theo Sommer, former editor-in-chief of Die Zeit, led the discussion between Hon Sybille Pfeiffer MP, Prof Dr Udo Ernst Simonis, environmental expert, and Ms Steneker.