Yesterday, the 23rd of September 2021, the Mohamed Hassanein Heikal Foundation for Arab Journalism announced the winners of the two incentive prizes in the Arab Journalism Competition. The Bahraini, Nazeeha Saeed, for her uniqueness in covering women’s issues in the Arab Gulf countries, and the Egyptian, Muhammad Aboul Gheit, for his distinguished investigations on the Syrian and Yemeni affairs.
During the past five years, it has been the custom to announce the winners on the anniversary of Mr. Haykal’s birthday, which falls on September 23, in the presence of members of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees and a number of public figures. And this time it was in a celebration attended by Mostafa Elfeki, Director of the Library of Alexandria, and it was broadcast on the Internet, due to the precautionary measures.
The prize came to honor two brilliant talents of young men and women journalists in the Arab world, in appreciation of their role model in creative work in accordance with the standards of journalistic writing. The Foundation awards two prizes annually; The value of the prize is 250,000 pounds, and it aims to provide young journalists from the Arab world with the necessary means to develop their skills, encourage scientific research, continue their professional excellence, and enhance their affiliation with journalistic work.
It is worth mentioning that Nazeeha Saeed has already won many international awards and international recognitions for her work as a journalist. Saeed was one of the journalists who participated actively in covering the 2011 movement in Bahrain, as a reporter for France 24 and Monte Carlo, and was arrested during the crackdown that crashed the sit-in at the Pearl Roundabout which was the campsite of the protests. Saeed was tortured in custody, when she finally immigrated to France and then Germany.
On that said Nedal Al Salman, the president of Bahrain Centre for Human Rights: “we are proud when Bahraini faces are recognized in international ceremonies and are honored for their outstanding work defending human rights and exposing the realities of the many. We salute and praise Nazeeha for this recognition and wish her all the best in her career.”