Armine Avetisyan wins Suitcase Media Award 2023
Published: Dec 20, 2023 Reading time: 2 minutesThe annual Suitcase Media Award took place On December 18, the International Day of Migrants.
As has been the tradition, this year's award ceremony was organised through the joint efforts of the Migration and Citizenship Service (MCS) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Armenia, the UN Office in Armenia, People in Need, the UN Refugee Agency and the International Organization for Migration.
At the event, speeches were delivered by Mr. Armen Ghazaryan, Head of the MCS, Mr. Frank Hess, Chargé ď Affaires a.i., of the EU Delegation to Armenia, Ms. Kavita Belani, Representative of the UN Refugee Agency in Armenia, Ms. Varduhi Dadunts, Country Director of the People in Need Armenia, and Mr. Marco Pellegrini, representative of the IOM.
The evaluation committee, comprised of media professionals representing the organising agencies, has selected the best materials out of more than a hundred submissions.
Thus, Armine Avetisyan won the Grand Prize with her report about Armenians illegally emigrating to the US, entitled "I dreamed of a carefree life, but was deceived".
The second prize was awarded to Maya Khachatryan for her report entitled "The Stones Speak Armenian: the Demands of Armenian Refugees and Forcibly Displaced Persons and the Steps Undertaken by the State".
The third prize was awarded to Anahit Harutyunyan for her report entitled "You don't go to your dad's house, you go to a foreign country...".
Seven additional reporters received incentive awards:
Taguhi Melkonyan: "An Unprecedented Flow of People from African Countries to Armenia: What are They doing Here?"
- Milena Khachikyan: "Artsakh Residents Registered in Armenia after September 19 will be Provided with Support Programs".
- Lilit Shahverdyan: "Living for the Sake of Memory: How did an Armenian Family leave Nagorno-Karabakh?".
- Armine Simonyan: "How Artsakh Residents Settled in Tegh".
- Nina Shahverdyan and Shogher Sargsyan: “Despite” podcast.
- Lusine Manvelyan: "In 2020, 3762 Families Benefited from the Housing Provision Program for the Displaced from Artsakh".
- Meri Boyajyan and Eliza Matevosyan: "Migration is an Issue on Agenda". They were awarded by the "Armenian Caritas" a benevolent non-governmental organisation.
Suitcase Media Award 2023
The Suitcase Media Award is aimed at motivating high-quality thematic journalism. By encouraging the production of professional and impactful media content on the issues relating to refugees, displaced persons, and migrants in Armenia and their integration, the co-organising agencies aim to inspire journalists to apply more comprehensive, accurate, and impartial approaches to journalism covering displaced persons and migrants, as well as the challenges they face.
The Suitcase Media Award has been awarded since 2010. This year, the contest was accomplished with the co-funding of the European Union, contracted by ICMPD through the Migration Partnership Facility (MPF), UNHCR Armenia, IOM, and UN Armenia.
