Maputo, Mozambique — Journalists in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) will soon be rewarded for outstanding work on activities of the 14-nation economic grouping.

A regional award to encourage journalists to write more about the organisation will be launched in August at the SADC heads of state summit in Malawi, an official of the Mozambican Culture Ministry, Esteves Camacho, disclosed Monday.

According to the Mozambican News Agency, AIM, Camacho recently led a government delegation to Mauritius where the decision was taken by the SADC committee for Culture, Information and Sport to set up the award.

Camacho said the award will be presented on an annual basis and is aimed at encouraging journalists to submit "the best works on the activities of SADC".

The award, which includes cash prizes of 5,000 dollars, 3,000 dollars and 2,000 dollars for three winners, will cover the written press, radio, television and photojournalism.

Camacho said that journalists can also cover such issues as the regional strategy in the fight against child pornography and other forms of child abuse.

Child pornography and other abuses have increased in the SADC region "due to poverty, cultural practices and the free flow of information, among other reasons", he said.

Sexual abuse of minors is a practice that SADC strongly wishes to eliminate, he added.

Already the regional body has identified strategies to counter the problem through harmonisation of legislation that protects minors, identification of cultural practices that promote child abuse, and studies to gauge the extent of the problem within the member states.

SADC member countries are Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.