Isu Elihle Awards 2026 for Journalists (R30,000 prize) – YOA

Deadline: June 4, 2026

Applications are open for the Isu Elihle Awards 2026. The awards search to contribute to a change in attitudes and behaviors of opinion and resolution-makers and residents throughout the nation and continent from the premise that the media frames debates in society and carries huge affect and, subsequently, capability to drive optimistic change. This 12 months marks six years since these Awards had been launched.

These Awards intention to encourage journalist to spotlight points which are confronted by kids within the continent. Journalist from greater than twenty international locations have utilized within the earlier years and various points about kids have been raised. This exhibits that these awards have gained a variety of traction throughout the continent. They encourage journalist to submit their distinctive story concepts throughout the began timeframe.

Prizes

• Overall winner: R30,000
• First runner up: R20,000
• Second runner up: R15,000
• Mandy Rossouw Category: Between R10,000 and R20,000

Eligibility

• Open to skilled journalists, whether or not straight employed or freelancers, working within the continent of Africa.
• The Competition is held in English. Therefore all entries and story concepts have to be in English.
• Employees and the instant households of Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) and the adjudicators should not eligible to take part within the competitors.
• Each Applicant is strictly restricted to a most of 1 entry; nonetheless, every media home can have as many candidates because it needs.

Stages of the Competition

First Stage: Submission of the story thought (4 May – 04 June 2026)

• Journalists submit their story concepts earlier than or on the deadline (04 June 2026 at 23:59PM CAT). These concepts will undergo an adjudication course of, undertaken by a panel of judges made up of youngsters, child rights consultants and unbiased media practitioners. Following the adjudication course of, the highest six finalists might be introduced on-line and throughout social media platforms and the place doable on mainstream media.

Second Stage: Producing and publishing the total story

• The prime six journalists might be given monetary help of as much as R10 000 every to analysis and develop their ideas into publishable information objects, which can then be printed or broadcast, by a mainstream information media home of their selecting. Note that particular person journalists should take sole accountability to method a mainstream media home and safe an settlement to publish/broadcast with the media home in query ought to their story thought be chosen as part of the highest six.
• The prime six tales will bear adjudication and solely the highest three are assured to win a money prize. There is a fourth money prize, that’s “The Isu Elihle Mandy Rossouw Accountability Category” (MRC). This fourth prize is conditional, it’ll solely be awarded if there’s a story (within the prime six) that meets the standards for the class. The amount of cash to be awarded for the Mandy Rossouw prize might be decided by the standard of the story printed.

Application

Click here to apply

For extra info, go to Isu Elihle Awards.