CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS ESSAY COMPETITION: DEADLINE: 31ST OF MARCH 2021
PRIZES TO BE WON:
Nelson Mandela Prize: $100
Thomas Sankara Prize: $75
Omoyele Sowore Prize: $50
AND Seven Honorable Mentions will be awarded
TOPIC: HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE AND VIOLATIONS IN AFRICA
The African Chapter of the International Human Rights Art Festival (IHRAF) is currently accepting submissions for its 2021 African Human Rights Essay Competition. The scope of the submission must directly relate to this year’s topic: Human Rights Abuse and Violations in Africa.
In Africa, the idea of human rights is a comparatively recent phenomenon. Contributing to the establishment of human rights system in Africa are the United Nations, international law and the African Union which have positively influenced the betterment of the human rights situation in the continent. However, extensive human rights abuses and violations still occur in many sections of the continent. Most of the violations can be attributed to political instability (as a consequence of civil war), racial discrimination, corruption, post-colonialism, economic scarcity, ignorance, illness, religious bigotry, debt and bad financial management, monopoly of power, lack/absence of judicial and press autonomy, border conflicts, unauthorized intrusion of privacy, establishment of laws barring specific of free expression, criminal defamation laws that are usually indistinct, restrictions on freedom of the press, freedom of assembly and association, corruption of government officials, lack or absence of independence and neutrality in the judiciary, gross domestic violence against women, prohibition of same sex activities, sexual abuse on LGBTI persons, and human trafficking.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Language Medium – English
Genre – Essay
Theme – Human Rights Abuse and Violation in Africa
Essays should be between the minimum of 1000 and the maximum of 1500 words.
Entries will be judged based on originality of thought, depth of analysis, clarity of expression, spelling and grammar and conformity to contest rules. Participants also have the flexibility to choose any subject related to this topic, however, the scope of the submission must directly relate to this year’s topic or it will be disqualified.
Entrants are advised to send the following information alongside their entries
i. Name
ii. Age
iii. Gender
iv. Country
v. Address
vi. Phone Number
vii. Where you heard about the Call for entries
viii. Short Profile about yourself.
ix. Permission to publish your poem/essay (in one or two paragraphs)
x. Name of school or university if any
Entrants can be from any African country
Permission to publish your work among the shortlisted entries.
Title of your mail should be addressed as “AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS ESSAY COMPETITION”
All entries must be submitted to: ihrafnigeria@gmail.com and also copy societyofyoungnigerianwriters@gmail.com.
Deadline for Submission is 31st of March, 2021.
Any signs of plagiarism will disqualify the entrant.
Organizers’ decision is final
OTHER BENEFITS
Award of Certificates of Participation to all Entrants.
Award of Certificates of Excellence to only the shortlisted entrants.
Only shortlisted work(s) will be published in e-book format
Automatic membership into African Chapter of the International Human Rights Art Festival
For more enquiries contact: Wole Adedoyin +2348072673852 (woleadedoyin@gmail.com) or Tom Block (tom@ihraf.org)