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Canadian Community Newspapers Association (CCNA) members are reminded that the entry deadline for the 2006 CIDA Awards contest is today. All entry packages must be post-marked or courier-dated with the March 31, 2006, deadline in order to be eligible.

Now in its seventh year, the CIDA Awards contest for Excellence in Writing on International Cooperation is run by CCNA in partnership with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). Past CIDA Award winners have had the experience of a lifetime, touring international development projects around the world, including the Philippines, Ethiopia, Vietnam, and most recently Zambia. Their stories can be found at http://www.communitynews.ca/cida/.

Staff writers at CCNA-member newspapers may submit an unlimited number of entries published during the qualifying period about how local Canadians made a difference in other countries around the world. Stories published during International Development Week, February 5-11, 2006, may also be entered.

Awards will be given to two outstanding writers at CCNA-member publications, based on stories written about people from their communities who are using their skills to improve life in other countries and published anytime within the 12-month period from March 1, 2005, to February 28, 2006. One winner will be selected from each of two circulation classes: under-10,000 and 10,000-and-over.

The Grand Prize

The two winning writers will each receive the grand prize, consisting of a guided tour of international development projects in a developing country anywhere in the world. The destination will be selected by CIDA in consultation with the winners. Travel, meals and accommodation will be provided by the CIDA Awards.

As part of the journey, the two winners will be asked to write about their experience. All editorial copy generated as a result of this tour will be made available for republication by other CCNA members on a copyright-free basis.

By entering the CIDA Awards contest, the writer and publisher grant non-exclusive rights to CCNA for re-publication, for non-commercial use, of stories submitted and, in the event that the writer is selected the winner, any stories written following the winners’ tour of international development projects in the selected developing country.

Prizes are non-transferable and have no cash value.

The 2006 CIDA awards entry form, with complete contest rules, was inserted in the February 2006 issue of The Publisher and can be downloaded from the CCNA website at http://www.communitynews.ca/files/news/CCNACIDA2006.pdf.

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