30 November 2005
FEMALE WRITERS, JOURNALISTS AWARDED NOVIB/PEN PRIZES
International PEN and Novib (Oxfam Netherlands) are honouring five female writers and journalists from Sierra Leone, Swaziland, Tunisia and Vietnam this year for their bravery in defending the right to free expression.
The 2005 Novib/PEN prizes, worth 2,500 Euros (US$2,900) have been awarded to Claudia Anthony, Sarah Mkhonza, Sihem Bensedrine, Neziha Rejiba and Duong Thu Huong.
Anthony has been forced to flee Sierra Leone because of her reporting for the independent newspaper "For Di People" and other publications. She is best known for writing about the rights of women and children.
Writer and academic Mkhonza has also been forced into exile from her native Swaziland because of her writings. She is an outspoken advocate of women's rights and often criticized members of Swaziland's royal family in her newspaper column.
Tunisian journalist Sihem Bensedrine and Neziha Rejiba (otherwise known as Om Zied) are well known for promoting press freedom in their country. Both have been harassed, intimidated and monitored by Tunisian police because of their work, and Bensedrine's online magazine Kalima (http://www.kalimatunisie.com) is inaccessible in the country.
Vietnamese writer Duong Thu Huong lives under government restrictions because of her articles and novels, which promote democratic reform and human rights. She was jailed in the early 1990s and is not allowed to leave the country.
The Novib/PEN awards are supported by International PEN's Emergency Fund, which provides one-time grants to writers imprisoned and in financial need as a result of being persecuted.
Visit:
- International PEN: http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/index.php?pid=33&aid=410
- Novib: http://www.novib.nl
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