Shortlist Debate 2016

Date TBA

The shortlists for the Orwell Prize 2016 will be announced at an event on Thursday 21st April 2016.

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What can we learn from the past about the abuse of the future?

There have been repeated crises about the abuse of children and inquiries into past failures continue to report. But we often fail to see what is in plain sight. What have we learnt, what changes of mindset are needed and what issues ought we to be considering now?

Andrew Norfolk is a journalist for the Times. Andrew won the 2013 Orwell Prize for Journalism and the 2012 Paul Foot Award for Investigative and Campaigning Journalism for his investigation into child sexual exploitation. He was named journalist of the year at the 2014 British Journalism Awards.

Lisa Harker is CEO of The Art Room, a charity working with 5-16 year olds with emotional and behavioural difficulties.  Lisa’s career has combined research, policy, journalism, campaigning and service delivery with a focus on finding ways to improve the lives of the UK’s most disadvantaged children.  She has worked for the NSPCC as Director of Strategy, led the Institute for Public Policy Research, worked as an advisor to BBC News and held various senior advisory roles within government, including as ‘child poverty tsar’.  Lisa lives in Oxford and has two adopted children.

Nazir Afzal was Chief Crown Prosecutor for the North West of England and formerly Director in London. During his 24 year career, Nazir has prosecuted some of the most high profile cases in the country and advised on many others. Nazir has campaigned tirelessly on a range of issues including Violence against women and girls, child sexual abuse, and honour based violence. He has advised UK government ministers and trains lawyers and judges from other countries. His prosecutions of the so called Rochdale grooming gang, BBC presenter Stuart Hall and hundreds of others were groundbreaking and drove the work that has changed the landscape of child protection particularly girls. He is now also advising several governments and institutions on radicalisation and extremism and capacity building on justice issues on behalf of the Foreign Office and United Nations. He is a consultant to BBC, ITV and Sky on criminal justice.

He is Pro Chancellor of Brunel University and an Honorary Fellow of the University of Central Lancashire and awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Law by the University of Birmingham.

Nazir’s has received many accolades, in 2005; he was awarded an OBE by the Queen for his work with the CPS and involvement with local communities. He has also had the honour of being the only lawyer to ever prosecute a case before the Queen.

Julia Unwin has been Chief Executive of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust since 2007.

She was a member of the Housing Corporation Board for 10 years and a Charity Commissioner from 1998-2003. Julia was also Deputy Chair of the Food Standards Agency and worked as an independent consultant, for 15 years, operating within government and the voluntary and corporate sectors. She has researched and written extensively on issues relating to philanthropy, the voluntary sector, and its relationship with government and has written several books, the most recent of which is entitled “Why Fight Poverty?” which was published in November 2013.

She previously held a position as chair of the Refugee Council from 1995 until 1998, and is currently a member of the University of York’s Council and a Governor of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.  In 2010 Julia was awarded the Outstanding Leadership Award in the Charity Awards and was awarded a Fellowship of the City and Guilds of London Institute in June 2012.

Julia chairs the Institute for Social Renewal advisory board at the University of Newcastle, is a member of the Council of the University of York, as well as being a member of the Advisory Board for Policy Scotland, at the University of Glasgow. In January 2016 Julia was appointed as an independent Non-Executive Director of Mears Group Plc.

She has Honorary Doctorates from the University of South Wales and from York St John University.