Indentity is a "human right" says mojo competition winner

Somali blogger Farah Abdi accepts her prize for her winning entry in the Thomson Foundation RT MojoCon mobile journalism competition.

Farah's film about the plight of fellow refugees in Malta forced to sleep rough to renew their identity cards was chosen from more than 80 entries in the annual international competition. Her report convinced the Maltese government to change its regulations.

Part of her prize was to attend the RT Mojocon 360 conference in Galway which attracts mobile journalists, 360 specialists and content creators from all over the world.

Identity is a human right

Farah Abdi, mojo competition winner 2017

Farah, 21 arrived in Malta from Libya by boat in 2012 after fleeing Kenya due to fear of persecution because of her gender identity as a trans women.

She travelled thousands of miles through sub Saharan Africa, the Sahara and Libya with only a few cans of tuna and pineapple to survive on. A non swimmer, she had never seen the sea before crossing the Mediterranean in a small dinghy crammed with fellow refugees.

The human rights violations she witnessed are documented in her autobiography Never Arrive .

Writing is my constant effort to create for myself a different order of reality from that which I have been given

Farah Abdi, Mojo competition winner 2017

Farah now lives in Germany where she continues to blog and is starting to explore producing podcasts and radio broadcasts using her prize, an iPhone 7 plus.

This is the third year that the Thomson Foundation has run the mojo competition.

The mobile phone has enabled a new generation of journalists

Hosam El Nagar, director of innovation and learning, Thomson Foundation The growing number of entries every year demonstrates how the mobile phone has enabled a new generation of journalists, says Hosam El Nagar, head of innovation and learning at the Thomson Foundation. Farah not only produced an innovative piece of mobile journalism but she also made a difference to the lives of refugees in Malta.

Related content

Somali blogger wins our 2017 mojo competition

Farah Abdi filmed the plight of refugees sleeping rough in Malta for their ID cards

Meeting last years winners

Yusuf Omar and Leonor Su rez were joint winners of the 2016 competition

Mojo: from periphery to the mainstream of journalism

How mobile journalism is much more than a cheaper way to produce video content on the go.

Deborah Kelly Head of Training and Communications

About: Deborah plays a key part in developing and promoting our training programmes and is our specialist on gender in media. As our senior in house trainer, she leads our network of over 200 trainers and consultants.

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