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UNEP Africa Announces Laureates of the 2011 Ozone Africa Media Award
Cameroon’s Line Renée Anaba wins Top Prize in Second Edition of the Award
Harare/Nairobi, 27 October 2011- The Jury of the Ozone Africa Media award has honored Line
Renée Anaba, a Cameroonian radio and TV journalist, for her report “ Course aux frigos,
congélateurs et autres commodités: Entre débrouille et protection de la couche d’Ozone”, that
highlights how the much needed second hand fridges get new life under the implementation of
Ozone depleting substances (ODS) phase out.
The Jury members constituted of senior members of the Africa Network of Environment Journalists
(ANEJ) and UNEP described her article as “very creative and vivid environmental reporting which
gives a human face to the story of the Montreal Protocol”.
The selection committee also decided to award the second prize to Benin’s Hubert Madafime,
another radio journalist, for his report “Un bien qui ne fait pas que du bien” that stresses the need to
control those commodities that are now intrinsically part of our daily life and yet have the potential
to harm the ozone layer.
The winners were announced today at the 15th Joint Meeting of the Ozone Officers Network in
Africa, organized by UNEP Regional OzonAction Compliance Assistance Programme, in Harare,
Zimbabwe.
Line Renée’s article tells the story of the majority of low income households in most of African
cities in their efforts to improve their livelihood against the backdrop of increasing poverty and in
the context of the phase out of Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) or the implementation of
international environmental agreement that may affect them.
The story also provides an example of good practice, as the ozone protection becomes an important
element in the curriculum of technical high schools in the country as a result of the awareness being
raised by the Ozone Unit and the Ministry of environment in Cameroon.
UNEP Regional Senior Coordinator of the Ozone Compliance Assistance Programme in Africa,
Jeremy Bazye said: “ This winning story is a very good illustration of the contribution that African
media can bring in the implementation of the Montreal Protocol in the region. That the Ozone story
can be told in such an exiting way is a clear indication that we need to consolidate this partnership
and I hope the competition will attract more stories of this quality as we plan to reach out to more
Portuguese and Arab speaking countries in Africa.”
The two laureates will receive a cash prize and will be invited to receive their awards in December
2011 in Bangui, Central African Republic.
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Notes to editors:
The 15th Joint Meeting of the Ozone Officers Network in Africa was organised buy the OzonAction
Compliance Assistance Programme (CAP in Africa, as part of an on-going forum supported by the
Montreal Protocol’s Multilateral Fund and managed by the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP) to assist National Ozone Units to efficiently manage their national programmes for
compliance with this multilateral environmental agreement.
The 15th Joint meeting of the Ozone Depleting Substances Officers Network in Africa
(ODSONET/AF) was meant to discuss national plans and associated technical issues for meeting the
targets for the controlled Hydro fluorocarbons (HCFCs) and methyl bromide and assess the
compliance status of African countries with respect to recent obligations, notably the phase out of
CFCs by 1st January 2010.
The meeting was attended by Ozone Officers from all countries in Africa, Ozone Secretariat,
Multilateral Fund Secretariat, Implementing and Bi-lateral Agencies and Environmental Journalists.
In the African Region, the implementing agencies of the Multilateral Fund include UNIDO, UNDP,
UNEP as well as bilateral partners –France and Germany.
The Regional Network of National Ozone Units (NOUs) under the Multilateral Fund is a pathbreaking mechanism for North-South and South-South cooperation, as intended in the Bali Strategic
Plan. Networking provides a platform for NOUs from African Countries to exchange experiences,
develop their skills and tap the expertise of their peers in other countries. Conducted at the regional
level, the Networking activity builds the Ozone Officers' skills for implementing and managing their
national ODS phase-out activities.
For more information, please contact:
Jeremy Bazye, Senior Regional Coordinator of the Ozone Compliance Assistance Programme (CAP)
in Africa on Tel +254 20 7624281, E-mail: Jeremy.Bazye@unep.org
Angele Luh, Information Officer, UNEP Regional Office for Africa, Tel: +254 20 7624292; Mobile:
+254 (0) 731 666 140; Email: Angele.Luh@unep.org
UNEP News Release 2011
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