The Kofi Annan Courage in Cartooning Award
Geneva, April 26 2022: The Cartoonists Rights Network International (CRNI) and the Freedom Cartoonists Foundation (FCF) announce that from 2022 they will establish a unified international cartoonists’ awards-giving partnership, alternating between Europe and the United States and ensuring the greatest possible level of recognition for the winners.
The Kofi Annan Courage in Cartooning Award, inaugurated by the Freedom Cartoonists Foundation on World Press Freedom Day, will alternate biannually with Cartoonists Rights Network International’s prize the Robert Russell Courage in Cartooning Award. Through these awards, both organizations shall honour extraordinary contributions to freedom of expression made by editorial and political cartoonists, often despite the most difficult of circumstances.
The inaugural Kofi Annan Courage in Cartooning Award will be presented during a special event at the Geneva Graduate Institute to mark World Press Freedom Day, May 3, 2022.
More information about the event
The FDF and the City of Geneva have invited two guests of honour, the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureates: Maria Ressa, founder of the Rappler news website in the Philippines; and Dmitry Muratov, editor-in-chief of the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta. Both of these world-famous journalists will deliver keynote remarks at a conference celebrating editorial cartooning and the free press. Thereafter, the Nobel laureates will present this year’s award(s) to the winning cartoonist(s).
Further speakers on the day: Michelle Bachelet, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights; Simonetta Sommaruga, Swiss Minister in charge of the media, and former President of Switzerland; Sami Kanaan, Geneva Minister for Culture and former Mayor; and Patrick Chappatte, editorial cartoonist and President of the Freedom Cartoonists Foundation.
The event is open to the public. Register before April 29, 2022.
In addition, an exhibit of work by international cartoonists including the winner(s) of the 2022 Kofi Annan Courage in Cartooning Award will be available for public view and free of charge at Quai Wilson, Lake Geneva, Switzerland, throughout the month of May. This exhibit, curated by Chappatte, is presented in partnership with the Paris-based association Cartooning for Peace, whose membership includes more than 200 cartoonists worldwide.
About the Freedom Cartoonists Foundation
Freedom Cartoonists Foundation (FDF), formerly the Swiss Foundation Cartooning for Peace, was founded in 2010 in Geneva by Marie Heuze, former UN communication director with cartoonists Plantu and Chappatte. Its mission is to defend freedom of expression in a spirit of dialogue. The FDF has given a biennial International Cartoon Award jointly with the City of Geneva since 2012. The late Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary-General, and the recipient of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize was FDF’s Honorary Chairperson, as well as a dedicated exponent for cartoonists. The new award is named in his honour. Cartoonists Rights Network International is an NGO based in the USA and incorporated in 1999; its award is named for its founder Dr Robert “Bro” Russell.
Main image: Plantu (France), L’Express
