FrontPage Africa reporter Mae Azango has been selected as one of four African journalists to win a prestigious grant from the U.S.-based Pulitzer Center to cover reproductive health issues.

Mae will join 3 other African journalists awarded the grants at the International Conference on Family Planning in Senegal from November 28 - December 3. The team will then report on reproductive issues in Liberia in January and February. The reporting will appear in FrontPage Africa and international media.

The goal of the grant is to improve the quality of the reporting on reproductive health and bring the voices of African journalists working to communicate the systemic crises affecting their countries to an international audience.

More than 200 million women lack access to effective contraceptives, and fertility rates for most of Africa are double the rate of the world as a whole, according to the World Health Organization.

Each year in sub-Saharan Africa there are 14 million unintended pregnancies, posing major health risks to women and their children, including death from complications during childbirth.  Men have crucial roles and responsibilities due to their decision-making powers in reproductive health matters.

Mae is a long time Liberian journalist who has won a loyal following among FrontPage Africa readers for her dedication to reporting the issues faced by ordinary Liberians, particularly women and children.

She has been a fellow of New Narratives, a project supporting leading African media, since July 2010.  New Narratives Executive Director Prue Clarke applauded Mae's Pulitzer win. "We have been extremely proud of Mae's reporting.

She has fearlessly shone a spotlight on the struggles of Liberians from all works of life - teen rape victims, victims of police brutality, female genital cutting to name a few. We look forward to seeing the reporting Mae does with her Pulitzer grant."

Mae is the second New Narratives fellow to win a Pulitzer Center grant. In September LWDR's Tecee Boley traveled to Sweden and reported on water and sanitation issues in Liberia.