Bulawayo vendors to co-sponsor journalists awards

Bulawayo Vendors and Traders Association (BVTA) and Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) will this year co- sponsor an award for an Outstanding Economic Justice Journalist.

In a statement the organisation said this inaugural award will be given to an Individual Journalist based in Bulawayo who has reported on Economic Justice issues and the daily struggles that are faced by vendors and informal traders in the city.

"The category of the Award is titled 'Economic Justice Bulawayo Journalist of the Year'. An adjudication panel from the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists ( ZUJ) will select the winning journalist. The Award will be given at the National Journalists and Media Awards (NJAMA) ceremony to be held in Harare on the 17th of October 2017," said the organisation.

"BVTA believes that the award will motivate more journalists to report, expose challenges and opportunities in the Informal sector. Some of the challenges that vendors and informal workers, the majority of whom are women grapple with on a daily basis are police harassment, confiscation of goods, expensive licenses and inadequate vending bays. Last year BVTA had to support a vendor, Doreen Selimani whose daughter suffered a broken arm after being manhandled by municipal police and the media was a key partner in exposing this abuse."

BVTA said it is grateful to OSISA who responded positively by agreeing to co- sponsor the award and to NJAMA for approving this award as part of their prestigious end of year awards. BVTA hopes this will be the beginning of a mutually -beneficial relationship with the media.

"BVTA works to promote the rights of vendors and informal Traders. BVTA also envisages an inclusive local economy that recognises and enables vendors and informal traders to have sustainable livelihoods so that they become key contributors to economic growth and development," said the organisation.