Radio Netherlands Worlwide correspondent Anne Mireille Nzouankeu, based in Cameroon, has won the third prize in the category Africa of the yearly Lorenzo Natali Journalism Prize of the European Commission, for her article ‘The double life of homosexuals’. Established in 1992, the Lorenzo Natali Prize is awarded to journalists for outstanding reporting on human rights, democracy and development issues.

The Grand Jury of the Lorenzo Natali Prize said that Nzouankeu and her publisher Le Jour “took considerable risks in broaching the subject of the treatment of homosexuals in Cameroon. A highly sensitive issue, Nzouankeu breaks a taboo by highlighting human rights abuses, from beatings and hefty fines to the lack of access to healthcare and imprisonment. The article generated a record number of reader responses, albeit mostly negative, whilst spurring a local radio debate on the decriminalisation of homosexuality.”

Award ceremony
On Thursday 8 December, three print and online press winners from each of the five geographic areas – Africa, the Arab World and the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, and Latin America and the Caribbean – received prize money and a trophy at an award ceremony in Brussels, Belgium.

In May this year, Radio Netherlands Worldwide published a short version of Nzouankeu's article.