In what could be construed as a testament to good programming, shows produced by Indian pubcasters Doordarshan and All India Radio bagged multiple awards at the recently held ABU-UNESCO Peace Media Awards 2021 at Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.

Doordarshan’s programme ‘DEAFinitely Leading the Way’ won an award under ‘Living Well with Super Diversity’ category, while All India Radio’s programme ‘Living on the edge – The coastal lives’ won another award in the category of ‘Ethical & Sustainable Relationship with Nature’.

The awards were given by UNESCO in collaboration with Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) under the ‘Together for Peace’ (T4P) initiative.

The award ceremony was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last week. More than hundred inspiring stories of individuals and communities were received from 33 countries across five continents. The competition was open for radio, TV, and digital platforms.

‘DEAFinitely Leading the Way’ talks about the inspiring journey of a specially-abled child. The purpose of the documentary is to motivate specially-abled persons to live their life with dignity. The documentary was produced and directed by Pradeep Agnihotri, programme executive, Doordarshan, Delhi.

All India Radio series ‘Living on the edge – The coastal lives’ explores life for fishing communities living on the edge in Visakhapatnam, a coastal town on the shores of the Bay of Bengal. This programme was devised and produced by Monika Gulati, programme executive, All India Radio, Delhi.

The ABU-UNESCO T4P Media Awards highlight and promote the crucial role of independent, ethical journalism and citizens’ media literacy for building positive peace in human minds.

Positive peace is not just the absence of conflicts and war, but striving for equitable and fair societies having respectful and sustainable relations with the environment. The awards honour innovative and creative content, which informs and educates audiences on best practices of building positive peace that have increasing urgency in achieving the sustainable development goals and building back better from the COVID-19 pandemic.