• by Roger Hamilton-Martin (united nations)
• Thursday, July 16, 2015
• Inter Press Service

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 16 (IPS) - IPS journalist Fabíola Ortiz is the winner of one of four prestigious Dag Hammarskjöld fellowships to cover the United Nations in fall 2015.

The fellowship, named after the former U.N. Secretary-General, gives journalists from developing countries an opportunity to observe deliberations during the first 10 weeks of the U.N. General Assembly (September-November) in New York; and to expand their knowledge of foreign policy, diplomacy and world events.

This year is a crucial one for the international community, with the formulation of the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and important conferences on financing for international development and climate change.

September's summit will bring U.N. member states together at the United Nations Headquarters in New York to agree on a set of SDGs. If talks are productive and a document is agreed upon, the Goals will become into effect in January 2016.

Seventeen goals have been suggested, with a draft document presented at 2014's General Assembly. Negotiations have continued in New York on how best to end poverty, achieve gender equality, conserve the environment and reduce inequality.

The fellowship is not supported financially by the United Nations itself, but will be supported by the Dag Hammarskjöld Fund, established in 1961 as a not-for-profit organisation by journalists at the United Nations to honor the second Secretary-General, who was killed in a plane crash while on a peace mission to Africa.

Ortiz is a Brazilian freelance journalist reporting in Portuguese, Spanish and English about human rights, international affairs and sustainable development. She has been a finalist twice for journalism awards for her reports on sustainable development in Brazil. She was also a contributor to the 2014 book "Until the Rulers Obey: Voices from Latin American Social Movements" edited by Marcy Rein and Clifton Ross.

Ortiz will be joined by Doreen Andoh, the Daily Graphic; Karthikeyan Hemalatha with Times of India; and Mercy Juma, with NTV and The Daily Nation of Kenya.

The selections were made following a review of approximately 130 applications from 40 countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America and Caribbean.

Edited by Kitty Stapp

© Inter Press Service (2015) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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