Recipients of 2024 Dag Hammarskjöld Journalism Fellowships

Due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, the Fund was unable to conduct an in-person Hammarskjöld Journalism Fellowship program during the 76th United Nations General Assembly in 2021.  Instead, the Fund selected four journalists from applications received in 2020 to observe and report on U.N. deliberations, conferences and interviews via virtual sessions. 

Haneen Saleh, 33, of Palestine has been working as a journalist and cultural activist in Palestine for nearly ten years. Her journalistic experience spans cultural journalism, digital content production, and feature stories. Recently, she has been working as a podcast producer covering cultural, political, and social topics in the Arab world. She has produced many podcast episodes with ‘Sowt’, a leading podcast production platform in the Arab world, as well as with various media and cultural institutions. Her work focuses on social justice issues, women’s rights, marginalized communities, the context of these issues in Palestine under Israeli occupation, and the cultural intersections with these topics.

Ridwan Karim Dini-Osman, 30, of Ghana is a multiple Pulitzer Center grantee and award-winning broadcast journalist and news presenter in Ghana. His reporting focuses on global health inequities, social justice, and sustainable development. He has reported globally, including from India, Rwanda, Malawi, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. Dini-Osman is a five-time recipient of Ghana’s National Journalism Award. In 2018, he won the Lorenzo Natali Media Prize, and in 2021, the International Center for Journalists’ Global Health Crisis Award for COVID-19 reporting. He is also an inaugural recipient of the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Award for Excellence in Science Communications from the U.S. National Academies.

Mohammad Dawood, 32, from Kashmir is a Producer at The Independent, supporting edits on Independent TV originals, as well as video news packages in India. Dawood works across a range of content in news, lifestyle and culture video content as he edits original programmes such as Bingewatch, On The Ground and Love Lives. Dawood is an award-winning filmmaker and has worked for numerous publications in India including Voice of America, Mongabay India, South China Morning Post (SCMP), The Caravan Magazine, BBC, AFP, Al-Arabiya, Arab News, The Quint, and Media Vigil. He received the prestigious Red Ink Award in India for a documentary on Women Empowerment and Gender Equality and Human Rights Watch Press Award in 2023.

Justicia Shipena, 25, of Namibia has been dedicated to developing articles since she was 16 years old. She is an ambassador to Women Energize Women, a global campaign promoting gender equality in the Just Energy Transition. In 2022, she received recognition from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Namibia’s Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) for her articles that increased public understanding of the COVID-19 vaccination. In June, she was awarded Best Radio Journalist at the 4th edition of the Sustainable Development Awards by the Environmental Investment Fund of Namibia and the Sustainable Development Advisory Council of (SDAC).” She currently works for Eagle Media House.