Director (News) of Channel i Shykh Seraj has won a UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) award for 2008-09. Seraj along with French journalist Laetitia Clavreul clinched the prestigious AH Boerma Award, declared at the FAO headquarters in Rome on Friday, the World Food Day, FAO Representative in Bangladesh Ad Spijkers said yesterday.

Seraj will receive the award on November 18 from the director general of FAO during the opening session of the FAO conference, Spijkers told a press conference at the Dhaka office of FAO. Since 1979, FAO has presented this award every two years to journalists, who have helped focus public attention on important aspects of the world food problems, especially agriculture and rural development, added Spijkers. The award is named after former FAO chief Addeke Hendrik Boerma, the Dutch national who headed the organisation for two consecutive terms from 1968 to 1975 and was also the first executive director of World Food Programme (WFP).

During the 30-year history of the AH Boerma Award Mr Shykh Seraj is only the 5th winner in Asia. The other winners were two from India, one from Thailand and one from Japan. "This award is another milestone for Bangladesh after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was awarded the Ceres Medal, the highest recognition by FAO to a statesperson, exactly ten years ago in 1999 for her outstanding leadership in agricultural development," Spijkers said.

"You have been selected for this award in recognition of your pioneering contribution towards increasing public awareness of all aspects of agriculture and development in both the print and more lately the broadcast media in Bangladesh," wrote FAO director general Dr Jacques Diouf to Shykh Seraj on his winning the award, according to a statement by the FAO. Shykh Seraj has relentlessly been working for the last three decades for the promotion of agriculture through all forms of the media.

-Daily Star