Because we believe in the power of words, and the authenticity of firsthand testimonials, we are happy to announce the launch of our 2020 Writing Contest “Voices from the Field”. This year, we are asking public health professionals to share with us one-page (300 to 400 words) first person testimonials about their experience in the field, when responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Through these words and the sharing of experience, we strive to inform the world of the great impact that health professionals have on public health in our region, and especially to highlight the monumental work they are all doing in response to the pandemic.

Furthermore, we also want to increase the visibility of these professionals regionally and globally, thus the contest will effectively highlight the contributions they have made within their respective country COVID-19 response.

While promoting entries on our networking platform EpiShares, Facebook, our website, and our upcoming Seventh EMPHNET Regional Conference we will give opportunities for more people to learn about the work these professionals engage in within their countries. Therefore, if you are an public health professional in the EMR and you have a flare for writing, and have been involved in your country’s COVID-19 response activities, kindly send us your entries.

We are looking for entries that express the challenges faced, lessons learned, or achievements you made during your work in the field in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and which place the spotlight on the humanitarian side of your work whether during outbreak investigations, rapid response activities, health awareness campaigns, research, or any other public health endeavor your country is involved in. So, start writing while ensuring that your submission fits the following criteria.

⦁ A 300 to 400-word piece
⦁ Written in first person meaning written in your voice and from your perspective.
⦁ Describes your personal experience in the field during the COVID-19 pandemic
⦁ Written in the language of your choice (Arabic, English, Urdu, French, or any other)
⦁ With each entry include a photo of you and a short bio including your name, and your current position, along with your full contact information. Note: this won’t be considered part of the word-count.
⦁ With each entry please add a 30-second video of you speaking about your experience . This could be a selfie taken via mobile.

Eligibility
⦁ The contest is open to FETP residents and graduates from the EMR only
⦁ Contestants can submit up to two entries
⦁ All submissions should be made as word documents
⦁ All submissions should include a photo of you and a short bio including your name, FETP Status, and current position, along with your full contact information. Note: this won’t be considered part of the word-count.
⦁ With the entry add a 30 second video of yourself (can be taken using your mobile) speaking about your experience.
⦁ All entries should be submitted to the email: ⦁ dshalabi@globalhealthdev.org with the subject of the email being “Voices from the Field Submission.
⦁ PLEASE NOTE: your writing should be original and about your personal experience, any copied submissions will not be considered.
⦁ Deadline for submission is May 31, 2020, 11:59 pm, Jordan Local Time (GMT +3)

Judging criteria
⦁ The testimonials will be evaluated by a committee from the GHD/EMPHNET team.
⦁ They will be judged in terms of content.
⦁ They will be judged in terms of authenticity.
⦁ The committee will be announcing the best three on June 15, 2020, by notifying winners via email, and making a public announcement on all our communication channels.

Note in terms of content
⦁ Content that is plagiarized or not original is immediately disqualified
⦁ EMPHNET will be working with authors to suggest linguistic edits, without changing the content
⦁ All testimonials will be published in our communication channels as a series.

Announcement of Results
Winners will be announced on our Social Media channels, and notified via email.

Prizes
EMPHNET will be giving away prizes for the authors of the best three testimonials.

Timeline
⦁ Submission is open from April 30 to May 31 2020
⦁ Winners will be announced on June 15, 2020
⦁ Submissions will be published on our channels from June 20 to June 30.

How to Apply
⦁ Please send your submission to the email ⦁ dshalabi@globalhealthdev.org along with a photo of yourself and including your full name, your FETP status, and your full contact information.
⦁ Upon submission, we will send you a confirmation email.

NOTE
Upon submission, all entries are the sole property of EMPHNET. Therefore, EMPHNET reserves the right to publish entries as it sees fit.

Good Luck!