The Board of Directors of the Dag Hammarskjöld Scholarship Fund for Journalists is pleased to announce the following recipients of 2008 Dag Hammarskjöld Fellowships.
Ms. Patricia Caycho
Magazine Caretas
Lima, Peru
As an investigative reporter for the Peruvian weekly Magazine Caretas,
Patricia Caycho
Ms. Caycho, 29, specializes in a wide range of topics: terrorism, corruption, public safety, and high-profile criminal trials – many issues growing out of two decades of domestic terrorism. Her in-depth coverage of the trial of former president Alberto Fujimori has been widely quoted. Miss Caycho originally wanted to be a war correspondent, until she realized that her passion is human rights and she has plenty of work to do in Peru. She is eager to learn the workings of the United Nations, "an organization that, for countries like mine, is often the only lifesaver to keep us safe from the injustices and abuses committed by our own authorities."
Mr. Erick Kabendera
The Citizen Newspaper
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Erick Kabendera
While writing a story about the poor quality of Tanzanian schools, reporter Mr. Kabendera saw students sitting in the floor, or even outdoors, instead of learning in proper classrooms. And he began to wonder why so much international aid has not alleviated his country's unrelenting poverty. Mr. Kabendera, 29, who writes frequently about health and poverty issues for the The Citizen, plans to focus his U.N.fellowship on efforts to meet the U.N. Millennium Development Goals and examine global policy that impacts on Tanzania including refugees, poverty abatement, and peace-building. Upon his return to Dar Es Salam, he plans to help train other journalists to dig, analyze and hold officials accountable for decisions.
Ms. Ebtihal Mubarak
Arab News
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Ebtihal MubarakReports on the small but growing movement for greater political and social rights for Saudi women and the challenges they face. Among the only 5 percent of Saudi women who work outside the home, Ms. Mubara was instrumental in publicizing the case of Fatimah Al Taimani, forcibly divorced from her husband and then chose imprisonment to escape her half brothers who accused her husband of lying about his tribal affiliations. More recently Ms. Mubarak covered a Saudi rape victim, known as the "Qatif Girl." Her reporting was picked up by the international press. At the United Nations, she intends to seek interviews with as many world figures as possible and "to represent working Saudi women in action."
Mr. Grevazio Zulu
National Broadcasting Corporation
Lusaka, Zambia
As an assignment editor and segment producer for Zambia NationalGrevazio ZuluBroadcasting Corp, Mr. Grevazio, 33, sees much of the U.N. agenda in action: his beat, the industrial "copperbelt" area in northern Zambia, shares a border with Congo and hosts significant refugee populations from DRC and other countries. Mr. Zulu's bureau is steeped in issues such as HIV infection, human rights atrocities, trade imbalances, pollution and poverty. "Countries that have known no war are still faced with various challenges that hinder economic success," he writes.
We deeply regret that we could finance only four fellows. Among the nearly 200 applications there were so many qualified and talented print and broadcasting journalists that the selection process was extremely difficult and heartbreaking.
The Fund is operated by correspondents accredited to the United Nations on a voluntary basis and is financed by UN missions, foundations and corporations. Initiated in 1962, the Fund was established as a memory to Dag Hammarskjöld, the second U.N. secretary-general, killed in a plane crash in September 1961 en route to negotiate a cease-fire in the Congo.
