MUMBAI: The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), Cable and Satellite Broadcasters Association of Asia (Casbaa) and United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) are inviting Asia-Pacific broadcasters and producers to submit entries for the Asia-Pacific Child Rights Award 2006.

The ABU-Casbaa-Unicef Child Rights Award, launched in 2001, is given each year in recognition of the best television programming on a child rights issue produced in the Asia-Pacific region. It recognises the efforts of broadcasters in pursuing both the production of top-quality children's programming and news coverage of children's issues.

Programmes both for children and about children are eligible and can cover any child rights issue. Entries can include documentaries that detail the plight of children, dramas that help break down stereotypes and discrimination, or animation that teaches and entertains.

Entries, which are free, must have been broadcast between August 2005 and July 2006, and must be received by 25 August 2006. The Award will be presented at the ABU Annual General Meeting in Beijing in November 2006.

The past winners of the award are as follows:

2005: Juvenile Injustice by Philippine broadcaster ABS - CBN Channel 2
2004: Hong Kong Connection: Children In Need by Radio Television Hong Kong
2003: Angels in Prison by Philippines’ GMA-7 Channel
2002: Child Soldiers by Radio Television Hong Kong
2001: Children Will Grow by Japan’s Mainichi Institute