Monday 21st February marked the launch of the Kamel Shiaa Prize, thus began the competition for an Iraqi journalist to win a three-month fellowship in Brussels.
 
The contest is open to Iraqi journalists ranging from 20 to 35 years old, regardless of their sex, ethnicity or religious background, currently based in Iraq and working for either written press, TV, radio or online media.

This prize is dedicated to the memory of the Iraqi/Belgian intellectual and writer Kamel Shiaa Abdullah, assassinated in Baghdad on 23 August, 2008 after returning to his home country. Hoping to help repair the post-conflict aftermath of political, ideological and social chaos, he went back to Iraq at the end of 2003 US-led invasion.

Applicants should  fill in an online form, upload a published article or a radio/TV broadcast related to the promotion of inter-cultural dialogue, and include a short summary in English as well as a letter of motivation. 

The deadline for applications is 30th April 2011, midnight (CET +1). At the initiative of his family and friends, the Prize commemorates Kamel Shiaa’s vital role in promoting values such as the press freedom, civil society, tolerance, independence, gender equality and diversity.

The European Journalism Centre (EJC) in support of the initiative, is sponsoring this Prize as a gesture of solidarity with those who have been killed or harassed while performing their job in a fragile state like Iraq.