WAMECA 2022: Call for entries

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) is calling for entries for the 6^th edition of the West Africa Media Excellence Conference and Awards (WAMECA).

WAMECA 2022 will be held from October 20 – 22 in Accra, Ghana, and will focus on the theme: Media and Women Empowerment in Africa.

The first two days of the event will be dedicated to discussing various topics under the theme while the last day will be for the annual awards, which honours the best journalistic works in West Africa.

Participants in this year’s event will explore the role of the media and journalism in addressing the challenges women face in African societies including difficulties related to access to education, finance, health, and technologies; abuses such as domestic violence and child marriages; inequalities in visibility, voice, and participation; among others.

The Awards are opened to journalists from print, electronic and online media in Anglophone, Francophone, and Lusophone countries in West Africa. An applicant must be West African, working with and for a media organisation(s) based in the sub-region.

An entry for the Awards must have been published or broadcasted between the period January 1 to December 31, 2021.

WAMECA 2022 will honour outstanding works of journalism in West Africa in the following categories:

Telecoms and ICTs Reporting

Oil and Gas Reporting

Business and SMEs Reporting

Anti-Corruption Reporting

Health Reporting

Environmental Reporting

Investigative Reporting

Human rights Reporting

Migration Reporting

In line with the theme for WAMECA this year, a new category, Women Empowerment Reporting, has been introduced. The category seeks to recognise and honour journalists in West Africa who had produced analytical and high-quality reports aimed at promoting women and gender equality, amplifying women voices and highlighting women who are breaking the gendered stereotypes in the region.

The deadline for the submission of the entries is on June 30, 2022, at 17.00 GMT. Finalists for WAMECA 2022 Awards will be announced on October 1, 2022.

Interested applicants should upload published works via the entry form on the website: www.mfwa.org/wameca. The entry should be an original work published through a media outlet in West Africa and must show the date of publication/broadcast and the medium in which the work was published. Applicants may submit entries to a maximum of two categories. For each category, a maximum of two entries is permitted.

Winners of the various categories will be announced at the West Africa Media Excellence Awards on October 22, at Swiss Spirit Alisa Hotel, Accra where the awards ceremony will be held. The Conference will feature sessions on topical journalism issues and also provide opportunities for networking among journalists, editors, and experts from West Africa.

Below are the important dates:

Opening of Entries – May 3, 2022

Deadline for submission of entries: June 30, 2022

Assessment of entries and selection of finalists:  August 1-30, 2022

Announcement of finalists: October 3, 2022

Conference: October 20 -21, 2022

Awards Night: October 22, 2022

 Make your submission here.

For more information, visit www.mfwa.org/wameca or email us at wameca[@]mfwa.org or call the MFWA on +233 302 -555327

WAMECA is an initiative of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) to promote media excellence in the sub-region.