12ª Convocatoria de los Premios de Ensayo Casa África

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IMPORTANT COMMUNICATION

Resumption of the calculation of the deadline for submission of works

On March 14, Royal Decree 463/2020, which declared the state of alarm for the management of the health crisis caused by COVID-19, established in its third additional provision the suspension of the procedures of public sector entities. This forced the suspension of the deadlines for the submission of works for the 12th Call for the Casa África Essay Prizes.

Article 9 of Royal Decree 537/2020 of 22 May, extending the state of alarm declared by Royal Decree 463/2020 of 14 March, establishes the resumption, with effect from 1 June 2020, of the calculation of the administrative periods that had been suspended by Royal Decree 463/2020 of 14 March, mentioned in the previous paragraph.

Under this new legal provision, the deadline for submission of applications has been resumed and will remain open until 17 SEPTEMBER 2020 inclusive. It will be from that date when the jury can meet in order to submit its proposal to Casa Africa before 15 December 2020. Casa África will make the resolution of the awards public by publishing it on the Consortium's website before 23 December 2020, if there are no circumstances or new legal provisions that prevent it.

Casa África regrets the inconvenience that this obligatory measure may cause to the participants in this call.

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For the 12 consecutive year, Casa África is holding the Casa África Prizes for Essays on African Themes, with a view to recognizing, promoting and publicising original and unpublished essays that enhance the knowledge that people have of the African continent.

Any physical person over the age of 18, of any nationality domiciled in any country in the world, may take part in the competition. Under no circumstances may they 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).

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 in Condition Four of the rules.

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 fl oods 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 confl ict. 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.

Essays must be original, unpublished and they must not have won any prizes or be pending the fi nal ruling in other events or competitions. Participants must guarantee 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.

The essay cannot be less than 15,000 or more than 20,000 words (excluding bibliography), and they must be written in Word Arial 12 Format and double spaced.

Essays must be presented unsigned and they will only be identifi ed 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.

Submission of essays and documentation: The essay, in WORD format, the entry application and the photocopy of the National Identity Card or Passport must be sent by e-mail only, to the following address: premio@casafrica.es

The deadline for submitting essays and the required documentation is 17st 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.

Prize: A single prize of €2,000 shall be awarded. 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.

IMPORTANT: DOWNLOAD HERE THE COMPLETE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE COMPETITION