On Thursday 17 March 2022, EU Neighbours South programme held the award ceremony of the TANDEM Media Awards, a region wide competition launched in September 2021 across 9 countries and territories of the MENA region.

During a ceremony held at the French Institute of Tunisia, four prizes were awarded to pairs of journalists, journalism students and artists from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Syria and Tunisia.

“This first edition was a huge success, with the submission of more than 127 pairs of contestants (or “TANDEMS”) from 9 countries. Today is a beautiful celebration of culture and creativity through the collaboration between pairs,” said EUNS Team Leader Joumana Brihi in her opening speech, congratulating all participants for their “incredible projects”.

Held as part of the EU Neighbours South programme’s participation in the 2nd International Assises of Journalism under the campaign SPEAK UP CULTURE!, the competition awarded the following duos:

• Female journalist / male journalist TANDEM – Winners: Fatima Zahra Jabbour (Morocco) & Wail Bourchabene (Morocco)
• Student/professional journalist TANDEM – Winners: Mohammed al Kahlout & Mohammed Hasan-al-Rifai
• Journalist /artist TANDEM – Winners: Inès Nayli (Algeria) & Abdelrazak Abo Wail (Algeria)
• Coup de coeur: – Winners: Jezia Nouma & Nadia Telich (Tunisia)

The TANDEMS worked together to produce a single piece of journalism (print article, online article, TV programme, short video, televised report, radio report, photo report, podcast, comic strip), related to an EU-funded project or cultural initiative in the region.

The TANDEM Media Awards is a media content creation competition based on the concept of collaboration between a pair, opened to journalists, journalism students and artists in the following countries and territories: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Syria and Tunisia.