1 April 2015, Hong Kong/Bangkok/Kuala Lumpur – The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), CASBAA and UNICEF are inviting broadcasters and producers to submit entries to the Asia-Pacific Child Rights Award for Television 2015.
The award is given each year to the best television programming on children’s rights produced in the Asia-Pacific region. It recognizes the efforts of broadcasters and producers in pursuing high quality children’s programming and better coverage of children’s issues.
“Child rights have never been more important, but people need to know about the issues affecting children and television has a vital role to play in this,” Christopher de Bono, UNICEF Regional Chief of Communication, said. “This award recognises the contribution that the TV industry in the Asia-Pacific region makes to child rights by highlighting important issues in a serious and responsible way.”
Programmes both for and about children are eligible, and can cover any child rights issue. Entries can include documentaries that detail the plight of children, dramas that help break down stereotypes and discrimination, or animation that teaches and entertains.
Entries must have been broadcast between June 2014 and May 2015 and must be received by 15 June 2015. The award will be presented during the CASBAA Convention in October 2015, in Hong Kong.
Past winners include:
- ‘All I Need’, by MTV EXIT (2009)
- ‘Front Row: Orphaned’, by GMA Network, the Philippines (2014)
- ‘Let Them Touch the Sky’, by the Smile Foundation, India (2010)
- ‘I-Witness: Piggy Bank’, by GMA Network, the Philippines (2012)
- ‘Iori and Ibuki – Why We Were Born’, by Shizuoka Telecasting, Japan (2011)
- ‘Reel Time: Bone Dry’, by GMA Network, the Philippines (2013).
This competition is open to all ABU and CASBAA members in the Asia-Pacific region. A full list of countries can be found on the website.
To enter, please visit http://childrightsaward.org/ and download the entry form, or email kjirathun@unicef.org
The winning and shortlisted programmes from 2014 can be watched online at:http://ow.ly/IjI2A
Notes for editors
About Asia–Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU)
ABU is a non-profit, non-government, professional association of broadcasting organizations, formed in 1964 to facilitate the development of broadcasting in the Asia–Pacific region. It provides a forum for promoting the collective interests of television and radio broadcasters and engages in activities to encourage regional and international cooperation between broadcasters. It currently has more than 260 members from 64 countries. It organizes activities and projects to promote excellence in broadcasting and to improve technical and programming skills of its members, including the ABU Children’s TV Programme Item Exchange.
About CASBAA
CASBAA is the association for the multichannel audiovisual content creation and distribution industry across Asia.
The CASBAA mission is to promote industry growth in the region. In so doing, it seeks to:
Represent: via government advocacy and interaction with trade organisations
Inform: via conferences, roundtables, newsletters & publications
Connect: via networking opportunities and informal gatherings
About UNICEF
UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do. Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere.
East Asia and Pacific: http://www.unicef.org/eapro/
South Asia: http://www.unicef.org/rosa/
Central Asia: http://www.unicef.org/ceecis/
For further information, please contact:
- Hanizah Hamzah, ABU (Kuala Lumpur), + 603 22822480,hanizah@abu.org.my
- Kevin Jennings, CASBAA (Hong Kong), + 852 3929 1730,kevin@casbaa.com
- Kritsada Jirathun, UNICEF (Bangkok), +66 2 356 92 49,kjirathun@unicef.org