“This is a well deserved prize and we congratulate NUSOJ leadership and members,” said Aidan White, right, IFJ General Secretary. “They have been steadfast in the defence of journalists’ rights under sustained, often lethal attacks.”

According to the statement released by the French Government through its embassy in Nairobi, the Commission nationale consultative des droits de l’homme (CNCDH) awarded the NUSOJ the prize, “a special distinction, in recognition of the work the union has been doing in encouraging freedom of speech, and defending and enhancing media freedom and human rights in Somalia”.

NUSOJ was one of five winners of the French prize’s special distinction, awarded annually since its inception in 1988. The prize is endowed by the French Prime Minister and acknowledges field work and projects dealing with the practical defence and promotion of human rights, in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The Union received the award today in Nairobi on International Day of Human Rights in an event hosted by French Ambassador to Kenya, H.E Elisabeth Barbier, and was attended by leading members of international community and Somali journalists. On behalf of the French government, Ambassador Elisabeth BARBIER awarded the honour to NUSOJ Secretary General Omar Faruk Osman, left.

The IFJ says the prize is a fitting tribute to NUSOJ members who lost their lives over many years, including its former Vice President, Nasteh Dahir Farah killed in June 2008, for carrying the torch of honest reporting in the face of violence and lawlessness.

“This year alone, nine journalists were killed in violent attacks in Somalia, including three in a bomb blast at a hotel in Mogadishu last week,” added White. “The work of NUSOJ for a safe journalism and the acclaim it is receiving will ensure their deaths were not in vain.”

For more information contact the IFJ at   +32 2 235 2207       

The IFJ represents over 600,000 journalists in 125 countries worldwide