Televised series Yat Madit, The Crossroads Project is among ten continental works that have been nominated for the Global Innovations Award organised under the auspices of United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) which is an initiative of the UN Secretary General.
The awards’ major aim is to improve understanding and cooperative relations among nations and people across cultures and religions, and to help counter the forces that fuel polarization and extremism.
According to a press release shared on the awards’ website, 1,356 applications from 130 countries across five continents were received for the Intercultural Innovations Award (IAA) which aims to contribute to peace, prosperity and building more inclusive societies.
The winning project will be announced during the IAA ceremony to be held at United Nations Headquarters in New York today (November 29).
“We are excited about this nomination that affirms how we uniquely used media and intercultural dialogues to promote peace in a region that is still on the road to recovery. We found that through the project, more communities and individuals appreciated the value of dialogue, working together above cultural or ethnic lines, to resolve issues in a peaceful way. The project also further confirms the importance of media as a significant intervention tool for peace building in Uganda,” Laurence Caron, the Head of Programmes at Media Focus on Africa, Uganda said.
Some members of yat Madit’s cast after winning the Best TV Drama award at the recent Uganda Film Festival. COURTESY PHOTO
Yat Madit aired on NTV Uganda and on four radio stations in Acholi, Lango, Teso and Karamoja between December 2016 and March 2017. It showcased and promoted alternative ways of resolving conflict among communities in northern and north-eastern Uganda.
Yat Madit is pitted against ‘Buddy Up!’ a school-based peace-building project in schools (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland).
The Yat Madit project’s story is about a multi-cultural post-war community in a trading center called Yat Madit. Some of the challenges they face include unemployment, land wrangles, war returnees, homeless former IDP camp residents, alcoholism, and domestic violence, child labor, some of which trigger tensions. However they must put aside individual and cultural differences and work together to move forward after a long war.
Yat Madit also recently took the award for Best TV Drama in the Uganda Film Festival Award. One of its main actors, Michael Wawuyo JR took home the accolade for Best Actor while Rehema Nanfuka, an actress in the drama won the award for Best Actress.
rbatte@ug.nationmedia.com