The Swedish Per Anger Prize awarded to young female journalist in Afghanistan

I want to demonstrate that women can work in an industry considered taboo for them. I realised that journalism was the quickest way if I wanted to reach women all around Afghanistan, and that it could serve as a platform to fight for women’s rights, says Najwa Alimi. Afghanistan is one of the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists, but also for women in general. Najwa Alimi is 25 years old, and she currently works as a reporter for the Afghan TV channel Zan TV, the only channel in the country that employs only female reporters and editors. She has made a name for herself as a fearless reporter, raising topics preferably avoided by other journalists, including social vulnerability, homelessness, drug addiction, and women's rights. – As a journalist, Najwa Alimi has been shot at and threatened. To keep fighting for women's rights to be seen and heard takes great courage. Najwa Alimi gives hope to a new generation of Afghan girls and boys, says Ingrid Lomfors, Director of the Living History Forum and chairman of the Per Anger Prize jury. The conditions for women in Afghanistan are slowly improving. But progress is slow, and many women are subjected to both violence and discrimination. More and more women enter the workforce, but harassment and the lack of education still present major obstacles for many of them. Last year, 14 journalists were killed, more than in any other country in the world, and so far this year four journalists have been killed. As female journalists grow in numbers, taking up more space, the threat against them increases. – Receiving the Per Anger Prize makes me even more convinced that I'm on the right track, that I should keep doing what I'm doing, and work even harder, says Najwa Alimi.

Najwa Alimi was nominated for the Per Anger Prize by RSF Sweden, the Swedish section of Reporters Without Borders. In 2017 Reporters Without Borders opened the first center for protection of women journalists in Afghanistan, Committee for the Protection of Afghan Women Journalists (CPAWJ) who gives support to women media workers in Afghanistan. 

– This prize comes at the right time. In the ongoing peace negotiations the importance of the protection of journalists and women´s rights can´t be underestimated as the key for a sustainable and long lasting result that will benefit all of Afghanistan. There is a need for more journalists like Najwa Alimi putting a spotlight on the often brutal and extreme violations of press freedom and women´s rights, says Erik Halkjaer, President of RSF Sweden. Najwa Alimi will be presented with the Per Anger Prize on 17 October at a ceremony held at the grand theatre Göta Lejon in Stockholm. The prize will be presented by the Swedish Minister of Culture and Democracy, Amanda Lind. The prize winner will be available for interviews in Stockholm on 14–16 October.

The Per Anger Prize is the Swedish government’s international prize for human rights and democracy. The prize was established in 2004 to draw attention to diplomat Per Anger's great work during the Second World War. The Living History Forum has been commissioned by the government to award the prize each year.

Nine international organisations participated in the nomination work for the Per Anger Prize: Afrikagrupperna, Amnesty International, Civil Rights Defenders, Diakonia, ICJ Sweden (Swedish Section of the International Commission of Jurists), Kvinna till kvinna, RSF Sweden (Swedish section of Reporters without Borders), the Church of Sweden, and Swedish PEN. 

For more information, please contact:

 Living History Forum's press officer at: +46 70-259 38 19 or press(a)levandehistoria.se.

Anna Widmark, RSF Sweden director, at: +46 72-308 05 23 or reportrarutangranser(a)rsf.org 

More information about the Per Anger Prize can be found at www.livinghistory.se and about the work of RSF in Afghanistan at www.rsf.org/en/afghanistan