Marking World Press Freedom Day this week, the Freedom Cartoonists Foundation, in partnership with the City of Geneva, has announced Palestinian cartoonist Safaa Odah and Ugandan academic, columnist, portrait artist and author Jimmy “Spire” Ssentongo as winners of the 2026 Kofi Annan Courage in Cartooning Award.
The award pays tribute to the talent and courage of cartoonists working in challenging environments.
The 2026 Kofi Annan Courage in Cartooning Award, honouring Safaa and Jimmy’s exceptional contribution to human rights and freedom of expression, was presented on Monday 4th May 2026, during a public ceremony at the Geneva Graduate Institute, in the presence of Joseph Stiglitz, 2001 Nobel laureate in economics, former chief economist of the World Bank, and professor at Columbia University.
Safaa Odah is a Palestinian cartoonist living in Gaza, and a member of Cartooning for Peace. Before the war escalated in 2023, she created cartoons, comic strips, and posters on women’s empowerment and aimed at young people.
Since October 2023, her drawings have borne witness to the terrible daily life of Gazans during the war, a collection, Safaa and the Tent, published by the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. Amid extreme violence and in total deprivation, the Palestinian cartoonist has been documenting the dramatic situation of Gazans for the past two and a half years. Since her family home was destroyed by a bombing two years ago, Safaa Odah and her family have been living in the Khan Younes camp.
Her simple, almost naive style stands up to the roar of bombs, expressing what words fail to convey and bear witness to a horror that the world tolerates. Her favourite themes are universal – family love, mourning, hunger and poverty, peace – and offer a poignant perspective on the occupation and displacement of the people of Gaza. Her drawings
Safaa continues to draw cartoons under extremely difficult conditions, using whatever materials she can gather – for example, drawing on the plastic tarp that serves as her family’s tent – and posting them on social media.
Jimmy “Spire” Ssentongo, also a member of Cartooning for Peace, is an Ugandan academic, columnist, portrait artist, author, and award-winning self-taught cartoonist. Among other outlets, he has been working for the Ugandan newspaper The Observer since 2006. Holding a Ph.D. in philosophy, he served as associate dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Uganda Martyrs University.
Frequently harassed, Spire has been in the authorities’ crosshairs since the 2020 pandemic. In March 2024, he received death threats after launching an anti-corruption campaign on X – #UgandaParliamentExhibition – calling out parliament and demanding accountability.
Spire’s humour and critical analysis amplify the impact of his cartoons, which have become popular and gone viral. In them, the Ugandan intellectual denounces corruption, institutional abuses, and the abuses of power.
A victim of cyberbullying, he has long been forced into a form of hiding. In January 2026, he temporarily sought refuge in Belgium to escape the growing pressure, as the presidential election approached.
The International Cartoon Award has been presented every two years since 2012 by the Freedom Cartoonists Foundation and the City of Geneva. In odd-numbered years, the prize is awarded by the partner organisation Cartoonists Rights in the United States.
Head downthetubes for…
• Freedom Cartoonists Foundation
• Watch a video portrait of Safaa Odah
• Watch a video portrait of Jimmy “Spire” Ssentongo
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
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