On 7 November 2023 at Kigali Conference and Exhibition Village, Rwanda Governance Board in partnership with Rwanda Journalists Association (ARJ) held a Development Journalism awards (DJA) whereby 21 journalists were awarded within different categories.

Development Journalism Awards is organised every year with the aim to recognise the dedicated journalists who have made a significant impact through their reporting, shedding light on critical issues, and driving positive change across the country.

These awards not only recognise excellence in journalism but also highlight the power of information in shaping our country and continent's future.

The process to select winners involved 21 competitive categories where journalists submitted entries to be assessed by a jury of experts.

Explaining the evaluation criteria, Ms. Sandrine Isheja Butera, the jury member said that during the evaluation, they considered different criteria namely choice of topic, relevance, professionalism, ethics, and impact and research efforts.

NGOGA Julius, a journalist at RADIO ISHINGIRO who was awarded as journalist who did the best story of the year expressed his happiness saying that the award gives her courage to work harder.

“I am extremely delighted to win the award. This encourages me to love my profession and do it with more dedication” he said.

Dr. Usta Kaitesi, Chief Executive Officer of RGB said that development journalism awards contribute significantly to the development of media sector in Rwanda which is also important partner in building and developing our society.

“We cannot reach the vision 2050 without having media as partner. All partners who contributed in awarding the journalists, demonstrated their trust in media as a channel to reach their beneficiaries. This means that media must work professionally and improve what they do since they are voice of the population, a channel for accountability and space for citizens’ participation” she said.  

This year, the Development Journalism awards coincided with the celebration of Africa Day of Information, an event which brought together different people from public and private institutions, media experts and practitioners to discuss not only local, regional and continental issues pertaining to media development but also Africa’s media development in general and its contribution to the development of the continent.

The participants discussed the importance of enhancing the capacity of the African media to lead on the coverage of African stories by putting them in their context, as the best way to bring Africans to own their narrative and hence contribute to building the Africa We Want.

Categories of awarded journalists

1. Feature story award (Online/Print)
2. Documentary award (Radio/TV)
3. Data journalism reporting award 
4. Sports reporting award
5. Talk-show of the year award
6. Best story (by female journalist)
7. Disability and inclusion reporting award
8. GBV and child abuse reporting award
9. Gender equality and inclusion reporting award
10. Gender promotion reporting award (exclusive for male journalist)
11. Fighting teenage pregnancy reporting award
12. Child development reporting award/ Radio /Winner
13. Child Development Reporting-Radio/ Runner Up
14. Child development reporting award/TV
15. Agriculture and livestock reporting award -Radio/TV
16. Agriculture and livestock reporting award -Online/Print
17. Governance and service delivery reporting award
18. Health reporting award 
19. ICT and telecommunication reporting award
20. Local governance and grassroots reporting award
21. Best story of the year award