Pellital, runner-up of the World Summit Youth Award 2011 !

Press Release

Egyptian women fight sexual harassment

Young females win international UN competition with “HARASSmap.org” and „Girls Radio Station Only“ 

[Austria, September 2011] Engy Ghozlan and Amani Eltunsi are among the winners of the World Summit Youth Award (WSYA) 2011. Their digital ventures “HARASSmap.org” and „Girls Radio Station Only“ are directed against sexual violence and give voice to Egypt’s women, living in a male dominated society. The WSYA jury altogether selected 18 awardees from 700 submissions and 99 countries. With four winning projects coming from Egypt, the country stands at the international forefront. For the fourth time WSYA assigns digital media products from young creatives under the age of 30 who take direct action on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The women's rights activist Engy Ghozlan (HARRASSmap.org) and the radio journalist Amani Eltunsi (Girls Only Radion Station) are prized with two of four Egyptian WSYA Awards 2011 in the category „Power 2 Women“.

Women can anonymously report incidences of sexual harassment via SMS, Twitter, Email or Telephone on Harassmap.org. According to the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights 80 per cent of the female population face sexual molestation each day in Egypt. The website acts as an advocacy, prevention and response tool, highlighting the severity of abuse and offering counselling. “We are over the moon. Our initiative, consisting only of volunteers, has come so far to get United Nations’ appreciation”, co-founder Engy Ghozlan says.

Among the winners is also Adama Diop with his project Pellital Microfinance Institution coming from Senegal. Pellital is a Microfinance Institution. The goal of Pellital is to aid in alleviating the poverty through a microfinance program in Agnam-Goly, Senegal. The word Pellital means "commitment" in Fulani, the language spoken in Agnam-Goly. In this rural village, microfinance opportunities have till now not been available to most of the inhabitants. The Pellital team's objective is to assist loan recipients in the successful planning and execution of small businesses that will propel the families of Agnam-Goly out of poverty.

Over 700 young producers, designers and developers have applied for the WSYA 2011 with websites, mobile-apps and new media formats in six categories. Frontrunner Egypt (4) is followed by India (3), Mexico and France (both 2). Projects from Portugal, Germany, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and Indonesia could each collect one award.

The World Summit Youth Award for digital content and apps has emanated from the UN World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). WSYA aims to activate people to implement the MDGs. The 18 winners and 15 runners-up will be honoured in Graz, Austria, from November 10^th to 13^th, 2011. Representatives from Governments, NGOs, Private Business and the United Nations will be present.

Register for the Event at www.youthaward.org

View all WSYA winners on www.youthaward.org/winners-2011

About the World Summit Youth Award (WSYA)

The WSYA selects and promotes best practice in e-content and new media, demonstrates young people’s potential to create outstanding digital content and serves as a platform for people from all UN member states in their efforts to reach the MDGs. The MDGs are eight concrete goals to eradicate poverty and inequality worldwide. They were set in 2000 by the UN and should be reached by 2015. The WSYA is organised as a follow-up activity of the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) and takes place in 2011 for the fourth time after 2005, 2009 and 2010. The WSYA team is based at the International Center for New Media (ICNM) in Salzburg, Austria. WSYA is supported by the UN Global Alliance for ICT & Development (UN GAID), the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Internet Society (ISOC), INTEL, the Telfree Group, the Fundação para as Comunicações Móveis (FCM) and the Layla Fakhro Foundation.

For more information visit:

www.youthaward.org | www.facebook.com/youthaward | www.twitter.com/youthaward

Or contact:

The official contact at WSYA office is Andrea Thuma: thuma@icnm.net

All WSYA 2011 categories and winners:

Category 1: Fight Poverty, Hunger and Disease!

	Project Title / URL	Country	Producer
Winner	MDG's Campus Challenge www.odmcampuschallenge.org.pt/	Portugal	Sara Dias
Winner	Kherna www.kherna.com	Egypt	Amira Salah
Winner	Maternal Mortality www.maternalmortalityportal.org	Ghana	Ojo Alexander Titiloye
Runners-Up: Pellital Microfinance Institution (www.pellital.org), Adama Diop, Senegal, Hopeland, South Africa, Wardi Souhaïl

Category 2: Education for All!

	Project Title / URL	Country	Producer
Winner	iko, the pupil's best friend http://en.projet-iko.com/	France	Arnaud Tanielian
Winner	Education Generation www.educationgeneration.org	Canada	Eileen Knowles
Winner	Make A Difference http://makeadiff.in	India	Krishnan Jithin
Runners-Up: Maternal Mortality, Pakistan, Bachal Humaira Lahore International Children's Film Festival,  Sweden, Mushtaq Zubair The Gateway to Education in Nepal, Nepal, Tankeshwar Acharya

Categorie 3: Power 2 Women!

	Project Title / URL	Country	Producer
Winner	Bell Bajao! (Ring the Bell) www.bellbajao.org	India	Engy Ghozlan
Winner	Harassmap http://harassmap.org	Egypt	Engy Ghozlan
Winner	Girls Only Radion Station www.banat9bass.com	Egypt	Amani Eltunsi
Runners-Up:  My Country My Village, Bangladesh, Rahman Ataur Think With Me, UK, Machirori Fungai Contraception - it´s our choice, Macedonia, Daniel Kalajdjieski

Category 4: Create your Culture!

	Projekt Titel / URL	Land	Producer
Winner	The Global Experience www.solarnet.tv	Germany	Carina Schmid
Winner	Play my Jamz www.playmyjamz.com	Nigeria	Akinyele Olubodun
Winner	Mashallah News http://mashallahnews.com	France	Clément Girardot
Runners-Up: YoungDads.TV, UK, Christy McAleese The Voice of Youth, Pakistan, Mushtaq Momal

Category 5: Go Green!

	Project Title / URL	Country	Producer
Winner	Friends of the Nature www.sahabat-alam.com/en	Indonesia	Adeline Tiffanie Suwana
Winner	Aventones www.aventones.com	Mexico	Cristina Palacios Goddard
Winner	Ilumexico http://ilumexico.mx/	Mexico	Mariana Astrid González Pacheco
Runners-Up: eMazingira Enviromental Campaign, Kenya, Machoka Dunstan Dexters for Earth: Lets GREEN the BLUES, India, Sagar Sharad Vivek End Kerosene Generation - 1 milion Solar Laterns, Nigeria, Oye Femi

Category 6: Pursue Truth!

	Project Title / URL	Country	Producer
Winner	Write3 www.write3.com	Bangladesh	Khan Suny Md Ashraf
Winner	Zabatak the anti-crime, anti-corruption initiative http://zabatak.com	Egypt	Abbas Ibrahim
Winner	The Voice of the Youth http://theviewspaper.net	India	Bhaskar Dravid Shiv
Runners-Up: ONE2ONE, Kenya, Kibutha Annrose Developing Pictures, USA, Pritz John