ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The 2022 Shifa Gardi Award was awarded to BBC journalist Lyse Doucet in a virtual ceremony for her reporting from front lines and war zones.
“How I wish I could be in Erbil today, but I’d also like to think that if Shifa was alive, and how we all wish she was, that she would be here today too, with all of her colleagues,” Doucet said in a video recording sent to Rudaw from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, where she is currently reporting on the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
“If anyone knows about what it’s like to live in a war which never seems to end, of living with powerful neighbors, and the importance of independent journalism – it is the Kurdish people,” Doucet added.
The award honors the memory of Rudaw journalist and news anchor Shifa Gardi who was tragically killed in a bomb attack in Mosul while covering the carnage of the Islamic State (ISIS) on February 25, 2017. It highlights the talent of female journalists on the front line who
bravely report and bear witness to realities that are often underreported.
The event was held virtually for the second time due to the situation in Afghanistan and the escalating Ukraine-Russia conflict as several journalists would not have been able to attend an in-person ceremony, read a Rudaw statement.
Renowned as a foreign correspondent in some of the toughest war zones, Doucet is the BBC’s chief international correspondent who has been reporting for the BBC for nearly 40 years. She spent 15 years as a BBC foreign correspondent before joining the team of presenters in 1999.
She was born in Canada but spent most of her lifetime reporting from abroad. She has reported from the front lines in Afghanistan, Syria, and Yemen, among many others.
In August last year, she extensively reported from Kabul following the withdrawal of coalition forces from Afghanistan after the Taliban launched an offensive against the country.
“This year the judges chose Lyse Doucet of the BBC. She is a very striking woman reporter who has covered many of the dangerous zones in conflict areas in the world over the past several decades,” Rob Beynon, CEO of DMA Media Group, who helped establish Rudaw Media Network, said regarding Doucet.
Beynon commended Doucet’s work in Afghanistan which he described as “one of the most difficult areas of the world, not only to cover but of course to live in.”
“Lyce has always looked for the humane side of a tragic country. She has looked from families, the women, the children, and all the suffering that goes with huge conflicts and famine,” he added.
Doucet also makes and presents documentaries.
Former Sky News and BBC correspondent Ian Woods also commended Doucet's work, saying she is admired not only by her viewers, but by her colleagues in the industry as well.
"There are many journalists who have spoken to me over the years, saying that Lyse Doucet is the person that they admire the most, as someone whose career they would like to emulate," Woods said.
Gardi’s legacy lives on through the yearly recognition of brave women like her who have dedicated their lives to telling the stories of the people and societies around them, even at great risk to their own personal safety.
The last three awards were presented to Alex Crawford of Sky News (2021), Arwa Damon of CNN (2020), and Jenan Moussa of al-Aan TV (2019).
Damon extended her “admiration” for all those supporting the Shifa Gardi Award and the mission it stands for in a short video sent to Rudaw network.
Moussa highlighted Rudaw's efforts in honoring Gardi's memory.
"I am very happy that even during times of corona and lockdowns, the Shifa Gardi prize is still being awarded. We owe it to her. This year it is again a virtual ceremony but it just shows how much Rudaw is committed in honoring its fallen reporter," she said.
