ISLAMABAD, May 22: The winners of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) “Award for Journalists 2007” are Bahzad Alam Khan of Dawn newspaper for best English write-up and Bushra Ejaz of Khabrain newspaper for best Urdu write-up.

This was announced in a press release issued by the ICRC here on Tuesday.

According to its mandate and as the guardian and promoter of international humanitarian law, the ICRC had announced the “Award for Journalists” to promote humanitarian writing among journalists.

Bahzad Alam Khan won the award for his article “When pride stands in the way of tears” and Bushra Ejaz won the award for her article “Maray thay jinkay liye”. The award money for the best English write-up was Rs30,000 and for the Urdu write-up was Rs25,000.

It was a difficult decision to select the winners since all entries were well articulated and raised humanitarian issues faced by the civilians in conflicts, the press release said.

The ICRC appreciated all the journalists who participated in the competition. It was the second time in Pakistan that the ICRC announced such an award for journalists and it would continue to be an annual feature to encourage journalists to report on humanitarian issues. The ICRC also appreciated all the journalists who committed themselves to humanitarian reporting.