ASEAN Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Media Award

Event Type: Contests

Date: July 4, 2025 to August 29, 2025

Venue:


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  1. Background

The Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda has been actively promoted in the ASEAN region, particularly since the adoption of the Joint Statement on Promoting WPS in ASEAN by ASEAN Leaders at the 31st ASEAN Summit in 2017. Since then, ASEAN has achieved significant milestones through collaborative, multi-sectoral efforts and strategic partnerships. As outlined in the ASEAN Regional Plan of Action on Women, Peace and Security (RPA WPS), one of the priority actions is the establishment of a Community of Practice (CoP) to foster multi-stakeholder collaboration, knowledge exchange, and inclusive policy implementation. Within this framework, the media is recognized as a key stakeholder in amplifying the WPS agenda.

Despite this, coverage of WPS agenda in mainstream media across the region remains limited. There is a pressing need to elevate the visibility of women’s leadership, participation, and contributions in peace and security efforts. To help address this gap, the ASEAN WPS Media Award was established as part of the broader strategy to engage media professionals within the CoP ecosystem. This initiative seeks to strengthen the role of the media as both a catalyst for public awareness and a strategic partner in advancing the regional WPS agenda. The Media Award serves not only as a platform for recognition and impact but also as an entry point for enhancing media participation in the ASEAN WPS Community of Practice.

To help address this gap, the ASEAN WPS Media Award is being developed as part of a broader strategy to engage media professionals within the CoP ecosystem. This initiative seeks to strengthen the role of the media as both a catalyst for public awareness and a strategic partner in advancing the regional WPS agenda. The Media Award serves not only as a platform for recognition and impact, but also as an entry point to introduce and encourage the participation of journalists into the ASEAN WPS CoP. It is hoped that those involved in the competition will continue to engage with the CoP, contributing to its long-term goals through sustained media advocacy and collaboration.

In line with this objective, the ASEAN WPS Media Award will invite journalists to submit news pitches related to the WPS agenda. A total of 30 journalists with the most compelling and relevant pitches will be selected to join a capacity-building workshop focused on journalism and WPS. Following the workshop, participants are expected to develop and publish their final journalistic pieces through their respective media platforms. Upon completion, three (3) journalists whose outputs demonstrate exceptional quality, relevance, and impact will be awarded with a cash prize.

This initiative falls under the ASEAN Regional project “Empowering Women for Sustainable Peace: Preventing Violence and Promoting Social Cohesion in ASEAN,” generously funded by the Governments of Canada, the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Korea.

  1. Objectives
  • To foster understanding and enhance knowledge of WPS among journalists and media practitioners.
  • To equip journalists and media practitioners with the skills and tools needed to produce high-quality, impactful news pieces on WPS issues.
  • To strengthen the role of the media as active stakeholders in promoting and advancing the WPS agenda across the ASEAN region.
  • To support and amplify WPS-related awareness campaigns through increased media visibility and public engagement.

  1. Theme of Journalistic Work

Women, Peace and Security Agenda in ASEAN: Implementation, Opportunities, and Challenges.

Journalists are invited to explore the implementation of the WPS agenda in ASEAN, including within their respective countries and regions. The news pitch should address one of the following sub-themes and demonstrate a clear understanding of the WPS agenda:

  1. Women’s Participation in Peace and Security Sector.
  2. Women Leaders in Community Peacebuilding Efforts.
  3. The Role of Women in Conflict Prevention.
  4. Success Story on Policies and their Impact on Women in Security.
  5. Gendered Impacts of Climate-Related Crises and Disaster Conflict Nexus.
  6. Women’s Role in Preventing & Countering Violent Extremism (PVE/CVE).
  7. Reflecting on the Implementation of National Action Plans on Women, Peace and Security.

  1. Eligibility and Participation Criteria
  • Open to journalists working in television, print, or online media with national or international coverage in the ASEAN region and Timor-Leste.
  • Participants must be nationals of and currently residing in one of the 10 ASEAN Member States or Timor-Leste.

  1. Guidelines for Journalistic Work Ideas

A. Format and Originality

  • The news pitch must clearly address the 5W1H elements (Who, What, When, Where, Why and How), explained in 200-500 words.
  • The news pitch should specify the intended format of their news piece, whether in written form (such as news articles, feature stories, or investigative reports) or multimedia format (such as television news segments or video reports).
  • Participants must submit original and unpublished journalistic work. However, it may be a further development of a previously published piece. If this is the case, participants should include the original story and clearly highlight how the news pitch builds upon and differs from the initial work.
  • For the initial selection process leading to the selection of 30 journalists, each participant may submit up to three (3) news pitches. However, for the final submission phase, which conducted after the workshop and intended to select the top three (3) journalistic works, each participant should submit only one (1) news article.
  • Plagiarism or the use of AI-generated content without significant human editorial input will result in disqualification.

B. Language

  • News pitches must be submitted in English. However, the final journalistic work to be published may be produced in either English or the national language of ASEAN Member States and Timor-Leste, depending on the language used by each journalist’s respective media outlet. For works published in a national language, participants are required to provide an English translation (a translated article for print/online media and a transcript for television media) to the organizers to facilitate the evaluation process.

C. Relevance and Ethical Standards

  • Entries must clearly align with the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, addressing one of the approved sub-themes.
  • All works must adhere to journalistic ethics, including accuracy, fairness, and respect for sources and communities featured in the story.

  1. Judging and Criteria Scoring
  • Relevance (30%): Alignment with the sub-themes and demonstrate a clear understanding of the WPS agenda.
  • Originality and Creativity (30%): The uniqueness of the angle, storytelling approach, and proposed treatment of the topic.
  • Potential Impact (20%): The potential of the story to influence public awareness, policy discourse, or community-level understanding of WPS-related issues.
  • Gender Sensitivity and Ethical Standards (20%): The news’ awareness of gender perspectives, representation, and adherence to ethical journalism standards in addressing WPS issues.

  1. Evaluation Process

The news pitch and published news will be reviewed by an independent panel composed of ASEAN-IPR and UN Women staff. The evaluation will include initial screening, detailed review, and final selection of awardees based on the established criteria.

  1. Award & Prizes

First prize : USD 500

Second prize : USD 300

Third prize : USD 200

  1. Timeline

Competition launch : Friday, 4 July 2025

Submission deadline – news pitch : Sunday, 13 July 2025

Judging period : Monday-Friday, 14-18 July 2025

Announcement of 30 selected journalists : Monday, 21 July 2025

Online workshop : July/August 2025

Submission deadline – published news : August 2025

Judging period : August 2025

Winner announcement : August 2025

  1. News Pitch Submission

Applications should be submitted by 13 July 2025 through an online form: www.bit.ly/aseanwpsmediaaward.

If you have any questions or need more information, please contact: COP_Comms@asean-aipr.org.


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