International Loving Peace Art Competition awards ceremony held in Ethiopia

ADDIS ABABA: The International Women’s Peace Group (IWPG) Global Region 2 held the preliminary award ceremony for the 6th International Loving Peace Art Competition at Addis Ababa National University in Ethiopia on June 15.

About 5,000 Ethiopian children and teenagers participated in the preliminary round and drew pictures under the theme of ‘Sending the heart of peace to friends suffering from war’. The winning works were selected through a strict review by Professor Jeremeyu Faysa of Addis Ababa University’s College of Fine Arts.

The first place winners in the elementary, middle and high school categories were Lakeb Elias (Bisrate Gabriel International School), Menata Getash (Aster Bete Fikir School), Saron Biniyam (Sunny Side School), and Yonatan Daniel (Sunny Side School). Their works are mailed to Korea and will compete in the finals with the best works from around the world.

In addition, the Addis Ababa President’s Special Award was received by Danat Toure and King Solomon (Bisrate Gabriel International School), Nathan Temesgen (Aster Bete Fikir School), and Eyuel Siyoum (Sunny Side School).

OBN Public Broadcasting’s Special Award went to Elias Muktar (Magic Carpet School) and Natan Aele (Aster Bete Fikir School), while FANA Public Broadcasting’s Special Award went to Nattael (Alpha School for the Deaf) and Yeneya Yared (Sunny Side School).

The awards ceremony began with a performance by students from Aster Bete Fikir School and Sunny Side School, with about 300 guests and parents in attendance. Congratulatory speeches and congratulatory messages were read, a highlight video of the Ethiopian preliminaries of the 6th International Loving Peace Art Competition was watched, and a ceremony of handing out appreciation certificates to cooperating organisations was held.

A gender expert from Sewalem University, who presented the Special Award on behalf of the President of Addis Ababa University, said, “We cannot have anything without peace, so everyone must participate and make efforts in IWPG’s peace activities,” and added, “At the Ethiopian preliminary awards ceremony for the IWPG International Loving Peace Art Competition, it is an honour to be together, and let us all focus on achieving true peace.”

One student who participated in the contest said, “Peace is as precious to people as life,” and added, “I put peace into practice in my drawings, and for me, loving Ethiopia and my friends is peace.”

Esther Kim, manager of the International Cooperation Department of IWPG’s Global Region 2, emphasised the responsibility of the older generation, saying, “Expressing the theme of peace through pictures is an educational value based on the formation of children’s character and intellectual ability development and an investment for future generations.”

She also said, “The painting contest in Ethiopia, which is located in the African Union (AU), is a special experience and I hope to exhibit the finalists of the 5th painting contest in the AU.”

The International Loving Peace Art Competition hosted by IWPG provides children and youth with the opportunity to imagine and draw a world of peace every year as part of spreading the culture of peace. The drawing contest is held every year in major cities around the world to spread the need for an end to global war, the value of a culture of peace, and to deliver a message of peace.

IWPG is a global women’s NGO registered with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the Department of Global Communications (DGC).