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Central America : ICRC rewards year's best newspaper reports

10-05-2001 News Release 01/18

To mark World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day 2001, on the evening of 8 May the ICRC presented prizes in Guatemala City to the winners of a competition for the best newspaper reports in the " Printed press and photography " category.

For the fourth successive year the ICRC regional delegation paid tribute to the work done by the press, especially in conflict and post-conflict situations. The prizes, which bear the name of Red Cross founder Henry Dunant, were awarded in recognition of the contribution of journalists to raising public awareness of the horrific effects of armed conflict and, above all, of the educational role they play in promoting knowledge of and respect for the rules of international humanitarian law.

First prize in the " Best photo report " category went to journalist Alberto Morales for his work entitled " In search of the promised land " , published in the Salvadoran daily La  Prensa Gráfica . Morales'pictures portray the joy and hope that inspire displaced people returning to their homes in Guatemala after the war that turned them into exiles in their own country.

Alba Angélica Trejo Valenzuela was the winner of first prize in the " Best press report " category for her article entitled " Children snatched away by war " , published in the Guatemalan daily El Periódico . The report sheds light on the fate of the many children who disappeared during the armed conflict in Guatemala.