To mark the 20th Anniversary of the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), a photo-pledge contest was opened on November 20th, 2009. Budding photographers, between the ages of 12 and 18 from all over the world submitted their photographs, called a “photo-pledge,” representing one of the five fundamental children’s rights: survival; education; health; protection from harm, abuse, and exploitation; and the right to be heard. The six winners have the opportunity to attend a photography workshop in Ethiopia with humanitarian and acclaimed photographer, Reza Reza, who headed up the judging of the photographs, stated, “I was very touched by the enthusiasm and great talent of those children who participated, as I believe that images as a common language in our world, could serve as pillars for peace education.”
The winners come from around the world, and are Rachita Castelino (15) of New Zealand, Ioana Velescu (17) of Romania, Chyi-Dean Shu (16) of the United States, Imane Tirich (18) from Morroco, Mariya Maximenko (16) from Israel, and Giuliane Bertaglia Correia (15) of Brazil. They will be presented with their awards at the Sony World Photography Awards in Cannes, France, on April 22, 2010.
The UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on November 20th, 1989. It established the five fundamental rights for all children to protect them against violence, discrimination, and harm. According to the press release announcing the winners, “The CRC has been signed by almost every single country, making it the most widely ratified human rights agreement in the world. Great progress has been made in the past 20 years, including improvements to under-five child mortality and falling numbers of children working in hazardous labour. However, major challenges remain. Between 500 million and 1.5 billion children experience violence annually; 150 million children aged between five and 14 are engaged in child labour and more than one million children are detained through justice systems around the world at any one time.”
Awareness is always the first step, and encouraging youngsters to pledge making these five fundamental rights a priority is an absolute must. Congratulations to the winners! We are excited to showcase your amazing work.
Image Source: Racita Castelino, Imane Tirich, and Ioana Velescu, courtesy of Sony World Photography Awards
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