Awards

French-Malagasy journalist Borgia, 37, who has worked in the country for more than a decade, received the prize at a ceremony in London for her AFP story 'Eating Shoes - Surviving Madagascar's Famine'.   

The One World Media Awards were set up more than 30 years ago to highlight under-reported stories and celebrate the best media coverage of the Global South. 

The prize was especially welcomed by Borgia after her disturbing images of displaced people eating shoe leather scraps to survive backlashed in Madagascar. One regional governor had accused her of spreading fake news, while a national broadcaster aired a counter “report” accusing her of bribing interviewees.  Reporters Sans Frontières issued a statement condemning “the crude and mendacious attempts to discredit this journalist's work”.

"Getting international recognition is a confirmation that our effort was worth it… it will also help other journalists here to overcome their fear to reveal more cases," said Borgia. "It's kind of a light at the end of the tunnel because it's been very challenging covering this terrible food crisis, which sometimes feels like no one pays attention to."

"This powerful reportage shows AFP’s unique strength in reporting human stories from locations outside the media spotlight. It is also a great tribute to Gaëlle's fine journalism and dogged reporting" stated Phil Chetwynd, AFP’s Global News Director.

One of the award judges, Sky News Foreign Editor, Eleonora Chiarella, tweeted that Borgia’s images were “impossible to forget”. 

AFP journalists Amaranta Marentes and Paula Vilella were also shortlisted in the News category for their report on Mexicans' desperate search for missing people. 

Borgia's prize is the second in a week for AFP video production after the agency won a Covering Climate Now award for a global piece on coastal cities on the climate 'frontline'.