MIAMI:
JAMAICAN, OMOTAYO Juanita Bernard, from St. James, is this year's winner of the Inter-American Press Association- (IAPA) sponsored Declaration of Chapultepec Essay Contest.
Omotayo's winning essay which beat 318 other entries, was, "To Speak or Not to Speak: The Principles of Chapultepec and How They Have Affected my Daily Life in Jamaica".
The announcement of the winner was made yesterday to coincide with the observance of World Press Freedom Day.
Omatayo will receive a US$2,500 cash prize and a trip to Washington DC, to attend the 57th IAPA general assembly to be held in that city on October 12-16, where there will be a special ceremony on this prize.
The Declaration of Chapultepec lists 10 fundamental principles for the protection of free speech. The document emerged from the Hemisphere Conference on Free Speech held in Mexico City's Chapultepec Castle in March 1994.
Spread
the word
To spread the word about the Declaration of Chapultepec, IAPA organises a popular essay contest asking individuals to write on the impact of these principles. The Chapultepec Project is sponsored by the Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation, based in Chicago, Illinois.
The contest was published in 45 newspapers in 19 countries of the Western Hemisphere and Europe, including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Spain, Trinidad & Tobago, United States, and Uruguay.
The Selection Committee chose the winning essay from four finalists: Marcela Alejandra Ahumada, from Via del Mar, Chile; Omotayo Juanita Bernard, from St. James, Jamaica; Lorenzo Montalvo Sardy from Santiago, Chile, and Joyce Walsh Portillo from Weston, Florida.
