The International Labour Organization (ILO) has launched its seventh annual Global Media Competition.

The aim is to identify reports that contribute to the elimination of xenophobia and discrimination against migrant workers. But also, highlights the positive contributions migrants make to society.

Focusing on this year’s competition, judges are particularly interested in the coverage of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on labour migration and fair recruitment, as well as those pertaining to migrant care workers.

That notwithstanding, the ILO indicates that stories about migrant domestic workers will also be viewed favourably. And this is because this year marks the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the ILO’s Domestic Workers Convention, 2011.

Participants who are eligible for this competition are both professional and student journalists. Accordingly, the panel to judge the various stories are experts in international migration and journalism.

The ILO indicates the use of a set of criteria to select the winners of the competition. These include creativity, accuracy, balance and the positive portrayal of labour migration, but also focusing on the protection of migrants.

Speaking at the launch, Michelle Leighton, Chief of the ILO Labour Migration Branch and one of the competition judges commented:

“The media play an important role in combatting the entrenchment of discriminatory attitudes towards migrant workers in societies and the workplace through transparent reporting and well-documented and ethical journalism.

She further added that, “the COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted this need for quality media reporting.”

Categories of awards to winners

Awards to the winners comprise of professional prizes and one student prize. However, ILO indicates that those who emerge winners can choose between a cash prize of US$1,200 in the professional category and US$500 in the student category.

Also, there are options for a paid fellowship to participate in an online ITC-Turin fair recruitment or labour migration course in 2022.

Moreover, in order to participate in the event, submissions of stories must be done via an online entry form. The request for submissions begins today, May 6, 2021, while the deadline for submissions is October 15, 2021.

This year’s competition slightly differs from the sixth global media competition. The latter focused on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on migrant workers and their families.

Although, with some similarities, last year’s competition was to promote quality reporting on labour migration issues. Also, the award scheme for last year offered prizes for two published media pieces on the subject. Another two sets of prizes for synopses of stories developed on labour migration or fair recruitment.

The Global Media Competition is supported by organizations such as the International Trade Union Confederation, the International Organisation of Employers, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the International Federation of Journalists, among others.

The competition is also organized with the support of the European Union funded ‘Global Action to Improve the Recruitment Framework of Labour Migration ’ (REFRAME) project, and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation funded ‘Integrated Programme on Fair Recruitment.