DFID-funded Guardian Journalism Competition: finalists announced

Sixteen finalists have been chosen from the 400 journalists who entered the Guardian newspaper’s Development Journalism Competition.

Two of these finalists will now get the chance to visit Camfed’s work in Zambia and Tanzania. Their names will be announced on August 1st, and their articles will appear in the Guardian in November 2008.

Camfed is one of eight charities collaborating with the Guardian in this ground-breaking competition, which challenges amateur and freelance journalists to look behind the headlines and investigate why 2.7 billion people around the world are still living in poverty.

More than 60 of the 400 competition entrants chose to write about educating girls and empowering women as a crucial step towards eradicating global poverty, Camfed’s chosen topics.

The competition was launched in March with the financial support of the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and attracted more than 16,000 unique visitors to the Guardian’s website.

Douglas Alexander, UK International Development Secretary, said: “I am delighted there were so many entries to the competition and that the standard of articles was so high. This highlights the UK public’s growing interest in global poverty and issues relating to international development.”

The two overall competition winners will be announced in November, when all 16 finalists’ assignments will be published by the Guardian in two colour supplements.

Find out who the finalists are and read their winning entries at the Guardian’s competition website.

The eight charities involved in this competition are Marie Stopes International, International HIV/AIDS Alliance, WaterAid, Malaria Consortium, Plan UK, Camfed International, HelpAge International, and Sightsavers International.