“Fasokan” rewarded Special Topic Award Education and Culture

Boukary Konaté, the Malian blogger and owner of “Fasokan”

Boukary Konaté receiving the prize from Ute Schaeffer, in Bonn

received his price for the "Special Topic Award Education and Culture", last 26 Tuesday, 2012, in Bonn. He is one the six bloggers to be rewarded during the 2012 edition of the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum in Bonn.

The one and only African blogger to be rewarded in the 2012 Bob’s award is Boukary Konate. He was indeed, chosen from more than 3,000 proposals by an international jury.

Sylvio Combey and Boukary Konate

“I am highly proud of the work I have done and of Africa”, said the Malian blogger in an exclusive interview, just after the ceremony.

“The evening I was informed that I was to the winner of this category was the following day of the military coup d’Etat in my country”, recalled Boukary konate before adding that  “It was not only a joy to receive a price but also a choc, because of what my country was going through. Therefore, I dedicated my price for the Unity and peace in Mali and the whole Africa”.

In fact, the award granted to Boukary Konate is due to his endeavor to go to the country side to educate populations on the use of internet. By doing that, he declared to have faced huge challenges. But those challenges had never hampered his efforts. “When you have the ambition to undertake something, you just have to be well armed in order not to be disappointed”, he recommended.

Winners of the 2012 Bobs awards

Apart from Fasokan, seven other bloggers were rewarded during the DW’s eighth BOB awards. The best Blog award went to “Window of Anguish” owned by Arash Sigarchi. He writes about human rights, social and political topics about his homeland. Window of Anguish is widely read inside and outside of Iran for its objective view of current events. Currently in Washington, Sigarchi is said to  maintain close connections to many sources in Iran.

Rebecca Chiao of “Harassmap” received the Best Use Of Technology For Social Good award. Harrassmap is indeed an Egyptian web portal where women can anonymously report sexual abuse incidents.

Sherry Al-Hayek received the Best Social Activism Campaign award with “Free Razan”. He received the prize on behalf of everyone involved in the site. “Free Razan” is dedicated to Razan Ghazzawi, a Syrian blogger currently in prison.

Wang Bo accepted the Best Video Channel award with his channel called “Kuang Kuang Kuang”. Wang Bo broadcast cartoons that illustrate social injustices in China, cover subjects from contaminated baby milk, forced re-settling and the disappearance of artist Ai Weiwei.

And Abu Sufian received the Reporters Without Borders Awards with “Abu Sufian’s Blog”. On this blog, he highlights social injustices in his own country, focussing particularly on the government’s authoritarian measures.

“You’re doing a great job!”, said Ute Schaeffer the Deutsche Welle Editor-in-Chief to congratulate them before adding that “Deutsche Welle wants to give you courage and show you how important your work is”