Casa Africa Essay Contest (Prize: €2000)

For the 12th year, Casa Africa is holding the Casa África Prizes for Essays on African Themes, with a view to recognizing, promoting and publicizing original and unpublished essays.

They are looking for essays that enhance the knowledge and opinions that people have of the African continent. The deadline for submission is 17th September, 2020.

Eligibility

• Entrants must be 18 years and above.
• Applicants should not have any kind of working and/or professional relations with Casa África, or with any of the institutions that form part of it (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Co-operation, Spanish International Development Co-operation Agency, Canary Island Government and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria City Council).
• Simultaneous submission are unacceptable. Only one essay per author will be accepted, but a single essay may be signed by several authors, in which case, each of them must present the documentation requested.

Theme: CLIMATE CHANGE IN ÁFRICA.

Climate change is one of the great challenges of the 21st century. In fact, it could probably be the most urgent and multidimensional challenge the world faces actually. Extreme droughts cause desertifi cation and environmental degradation, ruin the crops, facilitate the spread of fi res and kill livestock and people of thirst. Torrential rains and associated floods and adverse weather events of the same kind also have a dramatic impact on people’s lives. They wipe out crops and thus slow down the economy and, above all, put the survival of people, societies and cultures at risk. Sea levels are also rising at a gradually increasing rate, eating up coastlines around the world and threatening the livelihoods of coastal cities. Climate change and all its manifestations result in displacement of people, forced migration, poverty and conflict. All of these realities are especially hard on África, the continent that contributes the least to climate change and suffers it the most. For this reason, Casa África has decided to dedicate the twelfth edition of its essay prize to climate change, its effects on the African continent, future trends and, especially, the way in which this threat is being fought.

Submission Guidelines

• Essays must be original, unpublished and they must not have won any prizes or be pending the judgement in other events or competitions.
• There must be a guaranteeby participants that there are no third-party rights over the essays presented, and they shall be liable for all and any claims that may arise in this respect.
• The essays may be presented in any of the following languages: Spanish, English, French or Portuguese.
• Essay must be thoroughly edited before submission.
• The word count required is a minimum of 15,000 and a maximum of 20,000 words (excluding bibliography).
• Make sure that your essay is unique and that it would make a lasting statement to anyone who reads it.
• Document must be written in Word Arial 12 Format and double spaced.
• Essays must be presented unsigned and they will only be identified by the title of the work and whatever pseudonym each author may decide to use. Both the title of the essay and the pseudonym must appear on every page of the essay and pages must be numbered. Any signed essays will not be accepted for the competition.
• Documentation: It is essential to fill in completely the entry form. The same title and pseudonym/s that appear on the essay presented to the competition must also appear on the entry form, together with other information on the author or authors of the work: name and surnames, National Identity Card or Passport number, nationality, address, telephone number, e-mail and signature.

Before you proceed, you may need this guide;

Submission of essays and documentation:

• The essay should be submitted in WORD format, along with the entry application and the photocopy of the National Identity Card or Passport must be sent by e-mail only, to the following address: [email protected]
• The deadline for submitting essays and the required documentation is 17th September 2020.
• Any essays that arrive after the deadline will not be accepted. Participants whose documentation is not received in full within the established deadline will also be excluded from the competition.

Prizes

The prize of €2,000 shall be awarded to one winner.

Payment of said prize shall be subject to the Spanish tax legislation in effect at the time that said payment is made, irrespective of the fiscal residence of the winning author or authors.