Sanja Sarnavka is the communicator of the year, the expert jury of the Croatian Public Relations Association decided, and on January 23rd, it awarded her the annual Grand PRix award.
At the Grand Prix presentation, the president of the Croatian Association for Public Relations Mirela Holy said that Sanja, as "the long-time president and representative of the BaBe! association, has left a significant mark with her activities in the service of protecting human rights and preventing violence against women. Last year, through the public campaigns of the BaBe! association, she systematically, transparently and clearly continued to work on changing the way of thinking about human rights and women's rights, and continuously warned about the problem of the absurdity and inhumanity of the healthcare system that prevents adequate support and assistance. Faced with a serious illness, she herself became the protagonist of a story on the basis of which she managed to emphasize the struggle of a small person with bureaucracy. What is particularly noteworthy is that Ms. Sarnavka did not benefit from this public appearance, but rather wanted to point out anomalies and omissions, even absurdities, in the functioning of the system."
The official explanation for the election for the Communicator of the Year states that Sanja helps people with advice in her daily work and that she rightly wondered why institutions do not have the same approach towards their citizens. This detail and Sarnavka's appearance on the show "Nedjeljom u dva" were assessed not only as brave and consistent, but also as completely clear and unambiguous in terms of communication. The statement emphasizes that Sanja Sarnavka, through her persistent and long-term work, has become an unavoidable factor when any discussion about human rights and violence against women is opened in the public space.
Thanking the Grand Prix, the communicator of the year said: "It is nice and pleasant to know that you have been awarded for something that was done without any premeditation. It is especially good that until the moment I found out about receiving the award, I had no idea that anyone was considering my public speaking from a professional point of view. As an activist, I decided to participate in the public space with the desire for citizens to know that there are people and organizations for whom justice and respect for human rights are more important than anything else. If I have succeeded in this at least in part, if my speaking is recognized as honest and convincing, I cannot help but be satisfied."
