The African Network for Strategic Communication in Health and Development (AfriComNet), is calling for nominations for its second annual Award for Excellence in HIV/AIDS Communication in Africa. AfriComNet is an association of health and development practitioners that reside, work, or have a primary interest in Africa.

The purpose of the AfriComNet Award is to:

• recognise outstanding contributions made by individuals/organisations in the field of strategic HIV/AIDS communication;
• encourage innovation and the highest standards of quality in strategic communication in Africa;
• enhance appreciation of strategic communication as a necessary tool for health and development;
• attract outstanding individuals and organisations in Africa to advanced careers in strategic communication; and
• highlight programmes, tools and productions that advance the state-of-the-art in strategic communication and can be adapted and applied elsewhere.

The awards are divided into five categories and AfriComNet will give one award per category for outstanding initiatives, campaigns, productions and tools that advance the field of strategic communication and can be evaluated, adapted and applied elsewhere. The five award categories are the following:

• Best mass media campaign, intervention or production.
• Best folk media initiative.
• Best multi-channel communication.
• Best interpersonal/community-based communication.
• Best HIV- or AIDS-related article, series or column.

The AfriComNet award in each category shall be a fully paid trip to the award ceremony in Kampala, Uganda, in June 2008, as well as a plaque recognising the contribution to strategic communication for health and development.

Click here for more information in English.

Click here for more information in French.

Deadline for nominations is March 31 2008.

The nominated strategic communication initiatives and productions will be judged according to the following criteria.

• The strategy, campaign or tool should have made significant contribution to innovating, strengthening and popularising strategic communication as a necessary tool for health and development.
• The nominee should be an African citizen or have worked in Africa for a period of more than two years; and the initiative or production must have been implemented in Africa.
• If a creative team is behind the communication initiative, at least one member of the team should be an African citizen.
• The initiative should have demonstrated success in communities, workplaces and organisations, meaning it has contributed to behaviour change, better understanding of health, and improved well-being of the target audience.
• There should be measurable outcomes to show success of the strategic communication tools used to achieve improved well-being of the community.
• Communication interventions must have followed a strategic communication process including formative research and evaluation.

To nominate strategic communication programmes, campaigns or productions, the following procedure should be followed:

• any person or organisation can nominate an individual or organisation for an award by completing a nomination form.
• on the form, the nominator must describe his or her association with the nominated initiative or production;
• nomination must include a description of the initiative or production, and any documented effects; and
• the nomination will include the names and contact information for two referees who are familiar with the nominee's work.

Nomination Guidelines:

• Each entry requires a separate nomination form.
• The competition will be judged by an assigned judging team and the judges' decision is final; no negotiation will be entered into.
• AfriComNet reserves the right to disqualify any nominee, if it has reasonable grounds to believe the nominee/nominator has breached any of these terms and conditions.
• AfriComNet reserves the right to disseminate, reproduce or publish any entry without payment for the purpose of sharing a particular innovative communication tool.
• Participation in this competition will be deemed to constitute full and unconditional acceptance of its terms and conditions.
• No responsibility is taken for entries lost, delayed or misdirected or incomplete due to server functions, virus, bugs, post delays, or any other cause outside AfriComNet's control.
• One prize will be awarded for each of the five categories.
• Winners from each category will be contacted to let them know that their initiative is being considered for an AfriComNet Award.

If you have queries on any aspect of the competition, please email: infodesk@africomnet.org

Click here to download the nomination form as a word document. Form can also be requested by email from AfriComNet secretariat information desk: infodesk@africomnet.org