CAIRO: Egyptian journalist Abeer Salah El-Din from independent daily Al-Shorouk won the UNICEF award for press coverage of children's rights and behavioral change for her work on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). The ceremony was held on Nov. 5 during the final day of UNICEF's 5th MENA Regional Humanitarian Forum on Child Rights in Beirut, Lebanon. The awards were given out by the renowned Egyptian actor Mahmoud Kabil, the UNICEF Regional Goodwill Ambassador for MENA. This year's forum was dedicated to the topic of children's health and behavioral change. Awards were given out in four categories: print, radio, TV and the internet. The winner of the radio award was Soraya Boatba from Algerian Radio for her program on heavy school bags and their negative effect on children's health. The award for internet coverage went to Mohamed Sawafiri from the Palestinian al-Hayat al-Jadida daily for his investigation of the psychological impact of the winter 2009 war in Gaza. Samia Mahmoud received the award for TV for her work on children's obesity, broadcasted through the Vitamin Program on Dubai Television. Salah El-Din, 38, has won the same award last year for her story "Volunteer under 20, which was published in Sabah El-Kheir magazine. She has worked on FGM since 1994, winning numerous awards over the years for her stories and articles on women issues and FGM. This year, she won the award for her coverage, which ran in February in Al-Shorouk, of the fight against FGM in Egyptian villages over the years. The highlight of this coverage was a story on Dr Fatma, the Dean of the High Institute for Nursing in Aswan. A long opponent of FGM, the dean started the fight at home. She stood against her husband's demand to circumcise their six-year-old daughter. Now the daughter is 16 years old and is an outspoken opponent of FGM in her school in Aswan. "In a traditional society like Aswan's, it's courageous for a young girl to speak about FGM. She advises girls in her school against circumcision. She tells them, 'I'm a normal girl just like you all, and I'm not circumcised', Salah El-Din told Daily News Egypt. "The award makes me feel that my work is unique and that there's hope, said Salah El-Din. "When there's appreciation for my work, I say, it must be good and I should work more on finding new stories, new angles. Another Egyptian journalist, Shahira Amin from Nile TV, won the Special Mention Certificate for her overall work on promoting children's rights. Amin has done extensive work on FGM, the gender gap in education, early marriage and violence against women and children. "When I first did a story on FGM in 2003 everyone was shocked and my institution refused to air it, said Amin. "Now everyone talks about it, she added. She pointed out that the rates of FGM have fallen from 97 percent of Egyptian females in 2002 to 79 percent today. "Every time you have to push the boundary a little bit more, Amin said, commenting on the media's role in combating children's rights abuses. "We need quality education to solve most of our problems, to have women and children be aware of their rights, she concluded. The Egyptian government has taken up a number of different actions to fight FGM, including outlawing the practice and leading a strong media campaign to raise awareness. A hotline for children at risk has also been set up; children can call 16000 to report abuse. -Additional reporting by Sarah El Sirgany
