Moza distinguished, this Wednesday, in Maputo, the winning journalists of the 1st edition of the Moza Banco Journalism Award, with the theme: Gender-based violence in times of Covid-19. The contest was launched in April of this year, with the aim of encouraging media professionals to research, produce and publish articles on gender violence.

The distinction of the best published works covers three categories, namely, Written Press, Radio, and Television.

In the Written Press category, the award went to the journalist from the Savana newspaper, Raul Senda, with a report that portrays "The pain of those who suffer in double doses.

In the Radio and Television categories, two ties were registered and the prizes went to the journalists Eusébio Gove (Rádio Índico) and Daniel Faiela (Rádio Moçambique - Inhambane); as well as Amândio Borges (STV), Danissa Muchanga (TV Miramar) and Berta Luís Muiambo, from TV Sucesso, respectively.

The president of the board of directors of Moza Banco, João Figueiredo, praised the value of all the competing works. "I would like to congratulate the entire journalistic class for having accepted this challenge and, above all, for knowing how to respond with high quality works. Congratulations to the winners and to all the participants, whose involvement was crucial to the success of this 1st edition.

Moza believes that, with the holding of this contest, the main objectives that guided this project were achieved, namely: the need for greater dissemination of the topic of gender violence and the awareness of society about the impact on the lives of victims, their families, and society in general; the promotion of a society of pluralism, tolerance, culture of peace, and equal rights between men and women; and the creation, within Mozambican journalism, of a taste for research and the production of articles on this topic.

Present at the ceremony was the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Action, Nyeleti Mondlane, who has supported the Moza Banco initiative from the beginning. "One of the main challenges in combating violence is the lack of understanding of the various forms of violence and the conception by society that violence against women is justified. The first edition of the contest 'Moza Banco Journalistic Award on Gender-Based Violence in times of COVID-19' encourages us, as we feel the commitment and the will to together continue to carry out actions that aim to massify actions to prevent violence and create conditions for the well-being of women and men of all ages."

For his part, the secretary general of the National Union of Journalists, Eduardo Constantino, called on Moza Banco to continue with initiatives of this nature. To the media professionals, the SG challenged them to be more attentive and carefully observe the regulations, to avoid exclusions.

The Moza Banco Journalism Award is a project that will continue in the coming years, and for this reason an invitation was made to journalists and other partners to continue to be actively involved in this project, contributing to its growth and consolidation.