2024 Kofi Annan Courage in Cartooning Award

Rachita Taneja, India

Zunzi, Hong Kong

About the laureates

To the exhibit

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Geneva, Switzerland, May 3, 2024

On World Press Freedom Day, on May 3, the Freedom Cartoonists Foundation recognizes the talent and courage of cartoonists working under difficult circumstances.

The Kofi Annan Courage in Cartooning Award 2024 will be presented by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dr. Shirin Ebadi of Iran, during a public ceremony at the Geneva Graduate Institute, in presence of CNN’s international chief anchor Christiane Amanpour.

This cartoon award has been presented every two years since 2012. (In alternance with the biennial international Prize presented by the allied organization Cartoonists Rights in the United States).

The Laureates

Rachita Taneja, India

On her popular online webcomic Sanitary Panels, the young Indian cartoonist Rachita Taneja draws chronicles of daily life in India.

She is under the threat of a prison sentence following a complaint lodged by a member of the nationalist party in power in India. She is attacked for her critical cartoons about patriarchy, intolerance, and authoritarianism.

Her cartoons on the ban on the hijab in schools gave rise in 2022 to new treats. India ranks 161 on 180 countries according to RSF Press Freedom Index.

Zunzi, Honk Kong

In May 2023, Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao dismissed Zunzi, its regular cartoonist since 1983. The decision came after months of criticism of Zunzi by officials since Beijing adopted in 2020 National Security Laws that have reshaped Hong Kong’s arts, culture, and the media.

His cartoons were denounced by officials for their “sanctimonious humour that damages Hong Kong’s image” and called “ too distorting and unethical ”. Hong Kong ranks 140 on 180 countries on RSF Press Freedom Index.