A freelance journalist in Western Bahr el Ghazal State emerged as the winner of the peace award for story writing after defeating five other contenders in Jur River County on Thursday.
On Wednesday, 25 journalists and social media influencers began a two-day competition, providing writing pitches related to peacebuilding and aimed at creating a positive impact in the community.
This comes after Hope Africa South Sudan, with funds from UNDP and Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), put out an advertisement for journalists and social media influencers in Jur River County to apply for the peace award.
James Deng Dimo, a freelance journalist, was announced the winner with 100%, second runner up Joseph Agiu, who scored 70%, third, Ngeu Nelson scored 55%, fourth, Pastor Edward Ngong Tong scored 37% and fifth was Karlo Adhal.
Speaking after the announcement, James Deng Dimo welcomed the award and described his success as great for all journalists in the state.
“I thank Hope Africa South Sudan, KOICA, and UNDP for organizing the competition and training for journalists in Jur River County. It is my pleasure to accept the award you gave me today,” he said. “It is not out of the blue, but this is overdue due to the work that we, the journalists in Western Bahr el Ghazal State, have been doing for our community to achieve lasting peace. That is why Jur River County is now experiencing peace and stability.”
“The award not only touched my heart but also those of my colleagues and social media users from Jur River who managed to work toward achieving lasting peace in the county, thanks to you so much, I have received your award in honor,” Dimo added.
On her part, Tekla Baptist Okello, the representative of Hope Africa South Sudan, described the objectives of the organization as encouragement and motivation for the youth in the county to work for peacebuilding.
“The purpose and the objective of this activity is to encourage and to motivate our youth within Jur River county, specifically in Marial Bai payam, and this is not going to be the last activity, we still going to have another activity,” she said.
She encouraged female journalists to struggle and compete with their male colleagues next time.
Meanwhile, the representative of the state ministry of information, Kamilio Losang Karban, urged all journalists in the state to continue working for peace and stability.
“We in the ministry are urging the media to work toward peace and stability in the state so that our community stays in a peaceful environment because our community needs peace,” said Karban. “We, the journalists, are all working to ensure that information reaches down to all levels. I appreciated those five candidates who competed yesterday and today in writing peace articles in Jur River County. I hope this is not the last event. I am sure that Hope Africa South Sudan, together with other organizations, will continue to work for peace in our community.”
The award process was conducted through a judgment-based approach, providing constructive feedback for both finalists and participants, highlighting strengths and opportunities for improvement.