2008 ONE Africa Award

The ONE Africa Award is a new tool for ONE to help showcase and celebrate some of the innovative work being done by Africans to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. With an annual grant of $100,000, ONE aims to bolster the efforts of African individuals and organizations based on the continent and leading the fight against extreme poverty. African civil societies have an extremely important role to play in advancing the development agenda, both through their own actions and as monitoring bodies of government-implemented programs, ensuring money goes where it is most needed.

The 2008 ONE Africa Award was given to Development Communications Network (Devcoms) for their work with the media in Nigeria, training and sensitizing journalists and editors to public health care issues especially for women and children. Reducing child and maternal mortality are the fourth and fifth Millennium Development Goals but are the ones where some of the least progress has been made, especially in Africa. Devcoms' work sensitizing and immersing reporters in public health issues has corresponded with a 15% rise in media coverage of maternal and child health in Nigeria. Devcoms also provides media support to advocacy efforts for free maternal and child health care across the country. The award was announced at the Civil Society Organizations' Parallel Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Accra, Ghana.