Naimeh Hadidi (on right) visiting in the Aljouf region with a member of the King Abdulaziz Society for Women whose goal is to strengthen the position of women in Saudi society. (Courtesy, Naimeh Hadidi)
The July-August 2014 Foreign Service Journal reports on this years winners of PDAA Award for Achievement in Public Diplomacy, on pages 11 and 12. The 2014 awards went to:
– Attia Nasar, International Information Program, Department of State
– Ajani Husbands, Public Affairs Officer, Islamabad, Pakistan
– Rachel Goldberg, The Phillips Collection
for their multi-dimensional exchange program: “Pakistani Voices: A Conversation with The Migration Series” combining speaker programs, hands-on workshops with social and tradition media outreach to more than 375 artists, students, educators and museum professionals across Pakistan.
Ashley White, Public Affairs Officer, Malabo, Equatorial Guinea received an award for finding creative ways to organize a series of roundtables with students, government officials, legal experts, and civil society representatives featuring not only the ambassador but also high-level civil rights and election experts, in an environment where independent media are severely restricted.
Naimeh Hadidi, Cultural Affairs Specialist in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia was cited for building a nationwide network that fosters partnerships between the mission and women leaders in Saudi Arabia to support their efforts to battle gender apartheid in the country.
Morrison Mkhonta, Information Resource Center Director in Mbabane, Swaziland received an award for obtaining resources to purchase technology used to translate print materials to braille or audio, launching a training center to help in using the new information tools to open up a world of information that had heretofore not been accessible to many people in Swaziland with disabilities.
