Do you have an interest in international development? Are you an established freelance journalist, someone in the early years of a writing career, a journalism student, or an aspiring amateur?
The Guardian International Development Journalism competition, run in partnership with eight UK-based international non-governmental organisations (NGOs), wants to find exciting new voices in journalism. We are looking for anyone who is willing to rise to the challenge of writing about some of the most crucial issues facing the developing world - issues that are often overlooked or underrepresented by the media. The NGOs are Marie Stopes International, International HIV/Aids Alliance, WaterAid, Malaria Consortium, Plan UK, Camfed International, HelpAge International and Sightsavers International.
The competition is backed and principally funded by the Department for International Development (DfId) as part of an initiative to raise public awareness of such issues. GlaxoSmithKline is also a significant sponsor.
The challenge is to write an article of 650 to 1,000 words by May 6 on an aspect of global poverty that deserves greater media exposure - from safe motherhood to sanitation, youth governance to sexually transmitted infections. The 16 best writers will be selected from a longlist of about 40 entrants, all of whom will have their articles published online at guardian.co.uk.
The 16 finalists will be flown to Africa or Asia to research a new assignment. These will then be published in two Guardian newspaper supplements, after the announcement of the two winners at an awards ceremony. Finalists will each get computer equipment to the value of £1,000; the two overall winners will win £1,500-worth of equipment each.
The two strands for entry are:
· For professional freelance journalists (people who have been published before - excluding student journalists - but who are not employees of media organisations).
· For amateurs, including students. Anyone who is not a professional journalist is welcome to enter.
·For more details on all aspects of the competition, visit guardian.co.uk/developmentcompetition
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