On 3 May, on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, the Geneva Graduate Institute welcomed the Freedom Cartoonists Foundation and the City of Geneva to celebrate the presentation of the Kofi Annan Courage in Cartooning Award 2024 to laureates Rachita Taneja and Zunzi. The prize is awarded biennially.
The special event featured Shirin Ebadi, winner of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize, and Christiane Amanpour, Chief International Anchor for CNN and member of the Freedom Cartoonists Foundation advisory board.
Welcome remarks were made by Marie-Laure Salles, Director of the Geneva Graduate Institute, who affirmed that freedom of thought and speech is at the heart of what we do at the Institute and celebrated the recognition of challenges encountered by female cartoonists around the world.
Further introductions were made by Patrick Chappate and Marie Heuzé, respectively President and Vice-President of the Freedom Cartoonists Foundation; Sami Kanaan, Administrative Councillor of the Department of Culture and Digital Transition for the City of Geneva; and Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, who shared his remarks via a pre-recorded video.
Shirin Ebadi gave the keynote address, highlighting the plight of those who are behind bars for being journalists, charged with writing the truth where the truth is not wanted. She paid special respect to the cartoonists who tell this unwanted truth through their art, especially in countries suffering through dictatorship and so much devastation that sometimes cartoons are the only way to reach the population.
Journalists have always been the engine of society’s progress.
Shirin Ebadi
A conversation between Shirin Ebadi and Christiane Amanpour followed the speech, in which they discussed the fight for reform in Iran and the Women, Life, Freedom movement, which began in September 2022 following the killing of Mahsa Amini. Shirin Ebadi is the mentor of 2023 Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi, who remains imprisoned in Iran due to her activism.
Though this movement and those that came before it have not yet enacted change in Iran, Shirin Ebadi made it clear that it is coming, powerfully stating that, “Democracy will come to Iran from women.”
Christiane Amanpour then hosted a panel with three women cartoonists: Nadia Khiari, Tunisian cartoonist known for her series “Willis fromTunis”; Rachita Taneja, author of the popular webcomic “Sanitary Panels” who is facing the threat of a prison sentence for her work in India; and Ann Telnaes, American editorial cartoonist for the Washington Post. They discussed cartoons as an expression of free speech, the double standards they face as women cartoonists, and the dangers of self-censorship in a world that does not want them to express themselves.
The Freedom Cartoonists Foundation’s International Cartoonist Award is named after Kofi Annan, Nobel Peace laureate, former UN Secretary General, and alumni of the Geneva Graduate Institute, in recognition of his role as inspiration for the Swiss foundation, of which he was also honorary chair. To honour his memory, Patrick Chappatte invited Nane Annan on stage to speak about her late husband’s fondness for editorial cartoons and his advocacy for freedom of speech.
The Kofi Annan Courage in Cartooning Award 2024 was awarded to Zunzi for his work in the face of the crackdown on democracy and free expression in Hong Kong and Rachita Taneja for her work in India. Zunzi acknowledged the jailed journalists and activists in Hong Kong who continually inspire him, wishing to share his honour with them. Rachita Taneja expressed the importance of thinking about the political situation in India, not the whitewashed version the government wants the world to see.
Finally, the event drew attention to the video series “Dessiner pour résister”, which highlights the work of six women cartoonists who bravely fight for freedom of expression in countries where it is not a given and face regular challenges against their work. Rachita Taneja was featured in this series.
