Media development related initiative of Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC) has been recognized for 4th time as Champions in UN World Summit on the Information Society (UN WSIS) Prizes 2020.
UN WSIS Prizes honour outstanding projects that leverage the power of information and communication technology (ICT) to accelerate socio-economic development. Besides the highlighted relevance of the project to the respective WSIS Action Line as referenced in the Geneva and Tunis Plan of Action, the selection process was based on the project's impact on the community and linkages with the Sustainable Development. Since its inception, the contest of WSIS Prizes has attracted more than 300,000 stakeholders.
WSIS Prizes has been recognizing remarkable efforts made by entities and organizations from around the globe that focus on accelerating the socio-economic progress of the whole world as a community. The champion project is: Digital Safety and Security for the Journalists in Bangladesh.
The Champions prize will be distributed by ITU Secretary General from April 6 to 9 at a ceremony in Geneva, Switzerland, as part of the annual UN WSIS Forum 2020.
Out of 352 nominated ICT success stories from around the world, following a comprehensive review by the Expert Group of 776 projects submitted by the WSIS Stakeholders' community, WSIS Expert Group reviewed more than two million votes.
The goal of the project was aiming to provide overall idea about the use of information and communication technology (ICT) Digital Safety and Security for the Journalists in Bangladesh in carrying out the professional duties of journalists working at district level of Bangladesh.
BNNRC first won the WSIS Award in 2016 and has been chosen on account of its creative thinking, critical analysis, strong media development leadership and exceptional innovation of community and media sector contributing towards voices of the voiceless people in rural Bangladesh.
BNNRC's approach to media development is both knowledge-driven and context-sensitive, and it takes into account the challenges and opportunities created by the rapidly changing media environment in Bangladesh including community radio development giving voices for the voiceless in line with shaping the Future of Media, Information & Entertainment in the Era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution(4th IR) in Bangladesh with support from Free Press Unlimited.