KENYAN FILM MAKERS AND POETS AWARDED BY IGAD

IGAD awards youthful Kenyan poets and Film Makers . PHOTO / LILIAN MATHU

IGAD Executive Secretary Awards Young Poets and Film makers to advocate for peace and social development through arts.

By Lilian Mathu

The Intergovernmental Authority on

Development (IGAD) Executive Secretary

Dr Workneh Gebeyehu, awarded three

young poets and one young film maker

who contested during the #IGADForPeace

social media campaign in abid to

advocate for peace and social

development through arts.

The hand over ceremony took place at

the Office of the IGAD Head of Mission

located within the premises of the

Kenya Medical Training College Campus

on Karen Road in the presence of the

IGAD Special Envoy for South Sudan, the

IGAD Special Envoy for the Red Sea,

Gulf of Aden and Somalia, as well as

IGAD Divisions Directors and

Specialised Institutions.

The awardees for Kenya are film maker

Wakarima Wangui, 30 and poets Norris

Mwavita, 21, Troy Roy Njagi, 19 and

Cheboi Wakoli who were awarded for

their peace poems and peace film.

The Executive Secretary applauded the

awardees for their talent and

encouraged them to pursue their dreams.

He commended them for their creativity

in advocating for peace through

artistic approach to advance peace

amongst the young generation for

development. “It is a pleasure for me

to meet, greet and award young

promising talents in poetry and

filmmaking in Nairobi today”, he said.

“Youth account for a large majority of

our population, and they are the ones

most confronted with challenges such as

unemployment, violence and drugs. They

are the voice for a peaceful future we

need to hear. Talking the language of

the youth through the youth is

paramount in passing the message of

good governance and peace building. At

IGAD, we aim to leverage on young

people’s talents through advocacy

making them peace ambassadors,”he

continued before handing over the

Awards.

The peace campaign was aimed at

highlighting the aspects that

contribute to the promotion of peace

within the IGAD region where tension

between countries and armed conflicts

thrive.

Similar award ceremonies will be held

in the Offices of the IGAD Heads of

Mission in other IGAD member countries.

The #IGADForPeace social media campaign

started at the end of July and ended

mid-November.

The campaign highlights 5 areas:

● #IGADin1Minute is a short video

programme of the history of IGAD in 3

episodes, as well as shortened pieces

of videos produced by IGAD Programmes

and Projects in their respective areas;

● #IGADChampionOfTheWeek is to showcase

grassroots participation and

involvement in the IGAD Programmes and

Projects;

● #DiscoverIGAD is short videos

emanating from member countries Tourism

Boards aimed at promoting the region

as a tourism destination;

● #IGADPeacePoems is a call for short

poems to be shared by our followers of

our social media platforms. These poems

are to bring out the beauty and

benefits of peace; and

● #IGADPeaceFilms is a call for short

films along the same lines as the peace

poems.

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