Along with Marie Stopes, the Guardian has launched the second annual International Journalism Competition.
The aim of the competition is to give both new and existing journalists a unique opportunity to write about something they have probably never written about before and, if they are lucky, have that article published by the Guardian. At the same time the competition aims to sensitise entrants to international development so that hopefully they may continue to write about these issues in their work. An equally important aim of the competition is to provide coverage for and encourage discussion around important development issues that so rarely get mainstream media attention.
The competition opened on the 27 April 2009 and entrants have until the 22 June 2009 to write and enter their 650-1000 word article on an aspect of global poverty covering one of the 16 themes set.
40 of the best submissions will be published on guardian.co.uk and from there a shortlist of 16 finalists will be chosen. These people will then be flow out to either Africa or Asia to complete an assignment. They will get the chance to meet and talk with local people, government officials and NGO workers and visit the projects and locations that most visitors never get to see. The resulting articles will be published in special Guardian supplements and the overall winners (one new and one existing journalist) will be announced at a gala event later on in the year.
For further information on the competition please visit guardian.co.uk/journalismcompetition