As part of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, an annual international campaign taking place from 25 November to 10 December 2022, UNESCO is launching an essay and visual arts contest. Submissions are now open until 23 November 2022.

UNESCO is inviting young people from O3 PLUS participating countries to contribute to raise awareness to address gender-based violence by launching an essay and visual arts contest. Young people are encouraged to take action by writing, drawing, making a video, photographing, painting about combating gender-based violence. The contest is an opportunity to draw attention to the unacceptable level of violence against women and girls; to voice their experience and/or express solidarity to the cause and to advocate for strengthening mechanisms to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence - physical, psychological, emotional, and sexual violence - against women and girls. Ending gender-based violence is only possible if we join action to make this vision a reality.

Competition eligibility
To be eligible you must be able to answer “yes” to these statements:

• You are between 18 to 26 years old
• You are living in one of the O3 PLUS participating countries: Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
• All submitted work must be wholly original and may not infringe upon the copyright or other
• intellectual property or other legal or moral rights of any other person or entity.

Top two from each category will be selected (two essay and two artwork) from each country and will be awarded exciting prizes. Then of the four the top two will be published by UNESCO and will be eligible for the regional competition, where top 2 regional submissions will be selected.

Applications requirements
All submissions must be sent electronically in English by Wednesday 23 November 2022. Every essay or visual artwork submission must respond to the theme of gender-based violence. Please make sure to follow all requirements, your application will be considered ineligible for an award if you fail to comply with the requirements.

For more information please download the attachment at the bottom of this article.