The ADAMI Media Prize for Cultural Diversity in Eastern Europe, which recognizes outstanding films, TV and online programs promoting cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue in the six Eastern Partnership countries of Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia, was launched in Kyiv on 8 September 2015.

The media availability event gathered celebrities, renowned journalists and media managers such as Jamala, Zurab Alazania, General Director of the National Tele and Radio Company and Andriy Kulakov, Programme Director Internews Ukraine to present the initiative in Ukraine. It seeks to increase media interest in the promotion of cultural diversity and to encourage networking amongst programme managers and film-makers in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus.

IOM Ukraine Deputy Chief of Mission Stephen Rogers joined the launch event to bring the message of peaceful coexistence of people of different national, ethnic, religious or cultural backgrounds.

“Ukraine has traditionally been a sender and is gradually also transforming into a recipient of migrants. Thus, the importance of improved communication and understanding between host communities and migrants in Ukraine, as also exemplified by the situation of internal displacement in the country, continues to grow,” said the IOM Deputy Chief of Mission.

“We hope that the ADAMI Media Prize will increase media interest in the promotion of cultural diversity and the integration of migrants, and will be able to put a human face on the narrative that migrants contribute positively in the countries they come to.”

The ADAMI Media Prize 2015 will be awarded at a festive gala evening in the Georgian capital Tbilisi in December as an internationally broadcasted TV event.

The ADAMI Media Prize 2015 will be awarded in six categories with six prizes:

• ADAMI Media Prize for Entertainment (fiction)
• ADAMI Media Prize for Information (non-fiction)
• ADAMI Media Prize for News & Short Non-Fiction
• Young ADAMI Media Prize
• ADAMI Online Prize for Web pages
• ADAMI Online Prize for Web videos

Submissions can be entered until 25 October 2015 (entry deadline). Participating broadcasters, production companies, educational institutions and individuals must register at the website www.adamimediaprize.eu.

Since 2007, IOM promotes migrant integration and cultural diversity in Ukraine, inter alia through coordinating a voluntary Diversity Initiative platform (http://diversipedia.org.ua) together with UNHCR and implementing interactive programmes for Ukrainian youth.