UNICEF seeks entries for children’s television award on AIDS awareness

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences called for entries for the 2007 International Children’s Day of Broadcasting (ICDB) award honoring broadcasters for programming best reflecting the theme Unite for Children. Unite Against AIDS.

Submissions will be judged on not only the quality of work, but also for broadcasters’ dedication to bolstering participation by youth in media, in connection with the theme Unite for Children, Unite against AIDS, which is the name of a campaign launched in 2005 by UNICEF, the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and other partners to alert the world to the fact that children are missing from the global AIDS agenda.

“Children have the right to voice their opinions and broadcasters around the world are making that happen by getting youth voices on the air,” Stephen Cassidy, chief of UNICEF’s Internet, Broadcast and Image Section, said yesterday. “We want to reward them for their dedication and commitment.”

To be eligible for this year’s ICDB award, these broadcasts must have aired on or around Sunday, 10 December 2006, in conjunction with last year’s International Children’s Day of Broadcasting. UNICEF is also calling for radio entries for the 2007 IDCB Award for Radio Excellence. The submission deadline is 18 May, and entry forms can be found at www.unicef.org/icdb.

Judges will select the best television entries in eight regions across the world, which will then go on to compete for the IDCB Award to be presented at the International Emmy Awards Gala on 19 November in New York.

Last year’s television winner was Teleradio Moldova for their “Let’s Play!” programme, beating out five other regional IDCB winners to take the top prize.

UNICEF also announced the 2007 ICDB theme, The World We Want. In 2002, youth from the world over convened in New York to discuss their hopes for the future, and on the fifth anniversary of this meeting, UNICEF wants to know how far we have come.

The agency invites radio and television broadcasters to participate in the International Children’s Day of Broadcasting on 9 December and create programming which draws attention to children’s opinions of the state of the world, as they will then be eligible for the 2008 ICDB Award.