Southern Voices on Global Transitions: Winners of the AFD-GDN Video Contest Announced
published on 28 October 2021
The winners of the “Global Transitions, Southern Voices” video contest were announced on October 27. Supported by Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and Global Development Network (GDN), the contest featured video presentations by young researchers working in the Global South. With deep local knowledge of how global issues affect their communities, they covered themes ranging from the ramifications of chronic flooding in Niger to how Covid-19 has affected mental health in Colombia.
Four winners were announced at the “Evidence for Development: What Works Global Summit 2021,” an online conference co-hosted by GDN and the Campbell Collaboration.
The first prize of €3,000 (US$ 3,480) went to Halidou Alassane for “Flooding due to the rise in the water table in the city of Niamey” (7 min). The French language video won for engaging audiences on the issue of rising groundwater levels in the Sahel region – a new and illuminating topic that shows the diversity of challenges in this region, usually associated with water shortages in the public imagery.
The second prize of €2,000 (US$ 2,320) went to Corina Murafa for “The Challenge of a Just Energy Transition in Romania” (4 min). The video discussed the important policy issue of just energy transitions in Romania, a country in which five million people live in energy poverty.
Tied for third place were Lina Martinez for her video on “Mental Health in Colombia” (4 min 50), and Binaya Chalise for his presentation on “Disease Transition in the Global South” (5 min 19). They received €500 (US$ 580) each.
Supporting research in the Global South
The contest helps tell the stories of different development transitions through the eyes of young researchers working in the Global South. It also serves to link local perspectives to the global public discourse on development, using a language aimed at a wide audience of non-specialists.
Fifteen researchers from 15 countries around the globe were shortlisted for the contest, covering a wide range of topics including energy transitions, climate change, gender equality and digitalization.
Shortlisted videos were reviewed, and researchers had a one-to-one coaching session with communication experts, before they were judged by a jury of senior academics. On the jury were: Thomas Melonio (AFD’s Executive Director for Innovation, Research and Knowledge, Pierre Jacquet (President of Global Development Network), Hebe Vessuri (Centro de Investigaciones en Geografía Ambiental in Mexico), and Frannie Léautier (Finance and Development Expert and CEO of SouthBridge Investment).
Both winners and selected finalists will have a chance to take part in further audio-video productions by AFD and by GDN, with the potential of gaining global visibility.
Find out more about the contest here.
