The Maria Moors Cabot Prizes are awarded for distinguished reporting on the Americas and coverage of the Western Hemisphere that furthers inter-American understanding.
At a dinner at Columbia University in New York, Abd received a gold medal and an honorarium. He addressed the guests, saying: “But here is the main point: we care, we love this continent (Latin America) and we want to tell stories in depth in our home countries."
In honoring Abd, the judges cited his “untiring commitment and uncommon empathy” in addressing urgent social issues.
Abd is one of four Cabot Prize winners. The others are Rosental C. Alves of the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas; Margarita Martinez, a Colombian filmmaker; and Oscar Martinez of the digital newspaper El Faro in El Salvador. A special citation was also awarded to Marina Walker Guevara at the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists for reporting on the Panama Papers.
The Cabot Prizes were announced in July. The corresponding AP story in Spanish is available here.