[intro]The African Union is calling for documentary films with the theme “Women’s Empowerment and Development Towards Agenda 2063”. Any project or programmes that fall in line with the AU vision “Agenda 2063, my Agenda- The Africa we want”.[/intro]

The African Union is the continent’s unique pan African body. Its vision is to achieve “an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, an Africa driven and managed by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the international arena. Its headquarters are located in Addis Ababa, capital city of Ethiopia.

In order to achieve the vision of the AU, the African Union Commission has crafted its 2014-2017 strategic plan. One of the key pillars of that plan is to: Build a people-centred Union through active communication of the programmes of the African Union, the branding of the Union and participation of all stakeholders in defining and implementing the African agenda.

In line with this goal, the Commission’s Directorate of Information and Communication crafted a four year communication strategy which highlighted in part, the need to “reach out more effectively and aggressively to the ordinary citizens of Africa, by deepening their understanding of the role of the AU; what it stands for today and some of the strategic investments it is pursuing as a foundation for the improvement of the quality of life in Africa”.

Africa’s media have a critical role to play in achieving this goal and thereby enable citizens to participate in defining and implementing the African agenda in order to achieve the continental vision. It may be recalled that the AUC has been engaged in various programmes to build African media capacity through initiatives such as the AUC FES media training programme. While these programmes are ongoing, the Commission, through its Directorate of Information and Communication, has seen it fit to introduce the next level after training, i.e. implementation.

The programme, titled African Union Video Documentary Media Awards, seeks to work with the media to reach all corners of the African continent with news and views about African development issues. Topics will be based on the current theme of the African Union Summits of Heads of State and Government. As such, the awards will directly promote the annual priorities as defined by the supreme decision making organ on the continent i.e. the Assembly of Heads of State and Government. The awards are unique in this respect.

Broad Rules of the competition

  • The competition shall be open to all audio visual media journalists who are citizens of AU member states and who are based in Africa and whose video documentaries are broadcast in AU member states.
  • Winners shall be selected according to the five regions of the continent i.e. Southern, Central, East, West and North Africa.
  • Each journalist entering the competition shall be required to show proof that he/she is a citizen of an AU member state.
  • Each entry shall be accompanied by full names of the producer, the name and contact details of his/her employer, his/ her position in the news organisation, a valid media card and the region from where the entry is emanating:
    Written confirmation on an official letterhead from the media organisation employing the journalists, confirming his/ her employment in the agency and confirming the dates of publication of all the submitted entries will be required.
  • On receipt, the entries shall be judged by a competent panel of judges established by the Commission.
  • Winners shall be informed of how and when they shall receive their prizes before the end of the year 2015.
  • Equal gender representation shall be enforced
  • Each regional winner shall be presented with a reward of US$7,000 and a certificate.
  • Submissions sent without the required accompanying documentation will be disqualified.
  • The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into after the closing dates.

Language

The languages to be used shall be those of the African Union i.e. English, French, Portuguese and Arabic. (Documentaries with subtitles in another language would be an additional value for consideration)

Technical requirements

Entrants will provide one video documentary for the competition but must provide at least four other documentaries they have produced on any major AU project or programmes.

Topic for the AU Print Media Awards 2015

The topic for this inaugural competition of the AU Video Documentary Media Awards will be “Women’s Empowerment and Development Towards Agenda 2063”, as well as any major project and programmes of the AUC in line with the vision “Agenda 2063, my Agenda”, “The Africa we want”

Closing date for submissions

Entries for the competition opened on September 20 2015 and will close at midnight Addis Ababa time on October 31.
Winners will be informed before the end of November 2015.

How to submit

Interested journalists are invited to compile their entry for the competition as well as the four other short video productions on AU programmes and projects, and make all the preparations as outlined above, for presentation of their entries.

For more info visit http://www.au.int/en/content/call-entries-african-union-video-documentary-media-awards-2015