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Listeners from Ghana, Kenya and Swaziland to help judge first Ö÷²¥´óÐã Africa Radio Awards
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Three Ö÷²¥´óÐã World Service listeners from East, West and Southern Africa beat more than 1,000 other radio fans to sit on the regional judging panels of the network's first Ö÷²¥´óÐã Africa Radio Awards.
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Ghanaian student, Selase Kwawu, Kenyan programme manager, Sarah Simons, and Swazi teacher, Zandile Tshabalala, were selected after submitting essays on the subject "How Radio Changed My World" in a competition which ran on the Ö÷²¥´óÐã's interactive breakfast programme, Network Africa.
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The three competition winners will sit alongside a distinguished panel of judges in British Council offices in Accra, Dar es Salaam and Johannesburg to decide which radio stations and journalists go through to the competition's pan-African awards final in Nairobi, Kenya in May 2007.
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Vera Kwakofi, Project Manager for the Ö÷²¥´óÐã Africa Radio Awards, said: "The great thing about the How Radio Changed My World competition is it gave us an opportunity to really engage with our listeners and share their stories of the impact of radio on their lives.
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"The response was bigger than expected and the standards were very high. We deliberated long and hard to come up with the deserving winners who were all selected for their sincerity and passion for radio. They represent a modern Africa that is vibrant, educated, ambitious and highly motivated.
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"Giving these three dedicated radio listeners the chance to take part in this positive and very important event, celebrating the excellence of African journalism, is what this competition is all about."
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East Africa Listener Judge – Sarah Simons
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Kenyan Sarah Simons, is a 42-year-old Programme Manager with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and is studying for a PhD at the Kenya Institute for Study in Criminal Justice.
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In August 2006 Sarah went on a crime investigation study tour to California, USA where she visited police departments and a courthouse to gain practical insights into sex crime investigations.
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Sarah, who speaks six languages - English, French, Hindi, Kiswahili, Luo and Urdu - explains the reason she would like to sit on the judging panel is "to assess if local radio stations are reinforcing African core values while encouraging greater tolerance for other cultures in our heterogeneous African society."
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Sarah will fly to Tanzania to sit on the East Africa Regional Panel at the British Council office in Dar es Salaam. Its Chair is Dr Salim Ahmed Salim, former Prime Minister of Tanzania and former Secretary General of the Organisation of African Unity.
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Joining them on the panel will be Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, writer, conservationist and cultural worker from Kenya, and Ugandan-born Ö÷²¥´óÐã World Service presenter, Alex Jakana.
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West Africa Listener Judge – Selase Kwawu
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Selase Kwawu is a 24-year-old Ghanaian who is presently studying Computer Science and Chemistry at the University of Ghana. Selase has a special interest in youth work and has helped with the running of youth camps in Ghana and Togo.
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He also mentors young people on their personal life developments. Selase said in his How Radio Changed My World essay: "I see the radio as a vital tool in shaping the philosophical consensus and general worldview of our continent."
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Selase will sit on the West Africa Regional Panel which takes place in the British Council office in Accra, Ghana.
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He will judge entries alongside the panel Chair, Professor Dora Akunyili, Director General of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control of Nigeria.
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She will be joined by Ö÷²¥´óÐã World Service Senior Producer and Presenter for African News and Current Affairs, Bola Mosuro.
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Southern Africa Listener Judge – Zandile Tshabalala
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Zandile Tshabalala is a 39-year-old teacher and bank worker from Swaziland. In her spare time Zandile supports her community with charitable work which includes advising women on issues surrounding HIV and Aids.
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In her How Radio Changed My World essay Zandile writes: "Radio is my passion. I see it as a medium of transmitting information to the educated and the uneducated alike."
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Zandile will fly to Johannesburg in South Africa to help judge the entries at the British Council office. The panel is chaired by Tsitsi Dangarembga, a writer from Zimbabwe.
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Also joining them on the panel is the Editor of South Africa's Mail & Guardian newspaper, Ferial Haffajee, and Zambian-born Maureen Nkandu-Mundea, who presents flagship Ö÷²¥´óÐã World Service programme, Focus on Africa.
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The Ö÷²¥´óÐã Africa Radio Awards recognise and celebrate seven areas of achievement - highlighting the stations and individual broadcasters who have earned their audiences' respect and gained popularity for quality programmes.
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The categories are:
- Radio Station of the Year
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- New Radio Station of the Year (launched since September 2004)
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- News Journalist of the Year
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- Sports Journalist of the Year
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- Local On-Air Campaign of the Year
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- Interactive/Talk Show of the Year
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- Young Broadcaster of the Year (entrants must be 20 years of age or under on 31 December 2006)
Images and complete essays from the three listener judges are available on request or online at bbcworldservice.com/africaradioawards.
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Ö÷²¥´óÐã World Service
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