Announcement of the Global Prize Winners of the 23rd International Children's Painting Competition on the Environment
July 8, 2014
Nikon Corporation (Kazuo Ushida, President), with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Japan-based Foundation for Global Peace and Environment (FGPE), selected 56 global prize winners for the 23rd International Children's Painting Competition, and held the award ceremony at the first United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA).
The theme of the 23rd competition is "Food Waste", and a total of 69,375 paintings were submitted from around the world. According to statistics, one third of the food being produced in the world today is being wasted. At the same time, on the other hand, one in eight people worldwide do not have enough to eat, suffering from malnutrition. The screening convention was held on May 29th 2014 at the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature in Kyoto. The first prize global winner was awarded to Mr. Sami Asim Khan from the United States.
The award ceremony took place on June 23rd 2014 at the UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. It was held on the opening day of the first UNEA, which has 163 member states participating in the event. The 1st prize winner and 6 regional winners were invited to the ceremony, receiving prizes and plaques as well as blessings from environment ministers and officials worldwide.
1st Prize Global Winner: Sami Asim Khan, 13 years old, United States
Comment by Mr. Sami Asim Khan: "Through my drawing, I would like to express to other children that we are so fortunate to have a plentiful supply of food, so much so that we take it for granted, whilst there are so many millions in the world who are starving. We must all do our part to help reduce food waste, because if we don't, we will never accomplish our goal".
The International Children's Painting Competition on the Environment is an open competition for children across the world, co-sponsored by UNEP, FGPE, and Nikon Corporation. This annual event aims to convey children's message to "Conserve the earth" directly to people's hearts.
Please visit the shared album of "NIKON IMAGE SPACE" (Nikon's image sharing and storage site) to view all global prize and regional winners.
For detailed information on the International Children's Painting Competition, visit the site below.
The information is current as of the date of publication. It is subject to change without notice.