PRESS RELEASE
Italian journalist awarded at the UN in New York
New York, December 9th 2021. The Italian freelance journalist Sara Manisera and her team have been awarded the prestigious prize from the UN Correspondents Association (UNCA) in recognition of their work in the “Climate Change Coverage” category.
The Italian journalist collected the award during a ceremony hosted yesterday by the UNCA in New York before an illustrious audience, which included Italy’s Permanent Representative at the UN, Ambassador Maurizio Massari. Among the other guests, the President of the UN General Assembly Abdulla Shahid, the UNCA President Valeria Robecco (reporter from the Italian National Associated Press agency, ANSA), and the UNDP (the UN Development Program) Goodwill Ambassador Padma Lakshmi.
Sara Manisera has been awarded this important prize for her documentary on climate change in Iraq. “Iraq without Water” came out on March 22nd on World Water Day, and was co-produced by the NGO “Un ponte per” (“A Bridge for”).
A multimedia web documentary, it reveals the catastrophic consequences of the water crisis, and takes the viewers on a journey that “follows water” along the pathways running from Mosul to Basra, passing through Sulaymaniayah, Baghdad and the Mesopotamian Marshes, thus following the Tigris river.
Ambassador Massari expressed “the sense of pride felt by Italy and all the Italian journalists in the world for the bravery of this young and independent Italian journalist who has worked hard and faced numerous challenges. This award fits in well with Italy’s leading role in 2021 in tackling climate change as chair of the G20 and within COP26 Italy has cosponsored with the United Kingdom. Furthermore, Italy’s strong commitment to supporting Iraq’s stability and prosperity is well known. Italy is also proud of another young and talented Italian journalist at the helm of UNCA, Valeria Robecco from Ansa, whom we want to thank for her dedicated collaboration with the Permanent Mission of Italy at the UN”.
During the ceremony, other international journalists were awarded for their coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic and of the UN work all around. UNCA counts more than 200 correspondents from all over the world.
