IPS is pleased to announce that six journalists from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico and Venezuela were the winners of the second edition of the “Latin America and the Millennium Development Goals” Journalism Award, according to the decision of an international five-member jury made public today.

The first prize in the competition organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the news agency Inter Press Service (IPS) went to the series “Tereso es el ejemplo” (Tereso Is Just One Example), written by Mario Alejandro Muñoz, journalist with the Mexican newspaper El Informador. The award carries a monetary prize of US$ 5,000.

The series, which covers the death of a young indigenous man forsaken by his family and the State, constitutes a harsh portrayal of poverty in Mexico. It was selected among a total of 461 stories submitted in the competition, which was aimed at promoting greater awareness among the region’s journalists and media regarding major problems related with the Millennium Development Goals.

The second prize, worth US$ 2,500, was awarded to Silvia Regina Bessa for her series of reports on exclusion, prejudices and poverty, titled “Quilombola - Os dereitos negados de um povo” (Quilombola - A Peoples’ Rights Denied), published by the Brazilian newspaper Diario de Pernambuco.

The third prize (US$ 1,000) was awarded to Adriana Rivera, of Venezuela’s El Nacional newspaper, for her report “La escolaridad es blanco de la violencia” (Schools Targeted by Violence).

The jury highlighted the importance of a journalism that puts social issues - often forgotten - on the media’s agenda.

The jurors were Rebeca Grynspan, UNDP Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Brazilian economist and university professor Luis Gonzaga de Mello Belluzzo, Mexican journalist Miguel Angel Granados Chapa, Uruguayan writer Mario Delgado Aparain, and IPS General Director Mario Lubetkin.

“All the short-listed articles are brilliant examples of good reporting and commitment to the Millennium Goals,” Grynspan said.

In Granados Chapa’s opinion, it was very difficult to reach a final decision, because so many of the stories submitted were excellent.

The fourth prize went to Abel Dante Leguizamon, for his article “Tartagal, la tragedia” (The Tragedy of Tartagal), featured in the newspaper Dia a Dia, of Cordoba, Argentina.

The fifth prize was shared by Guadalupe Yapud, for her article “Cuando se vive con un dolar al dia” (Living on a Dollar a Day), published by the Ecuadorian newspaper La Hora, and Maria Paz Cuevas, for her report “Heidi y Gretel” (Heidi and Gretel), featured in Chile’s Paula magazine.

No money is awarded with the fourth and fifth prizes.

All the winning pieces will be included in a book to be published soon.

The Eight Millennium Development Goals were adopted by 189 heads of state at the United Nations’ Development Summit in the year 2000, with the aim of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger in the world.