IWPG Colombia hosts award ceremony for art competition

IWPG Colombia Branch held the award ceremony for the preliminary round of the 6th International Loving Peace Art Competition, along with an exhibition of winning works, on August 14 at the Center for Memory, Peace, and Reconciliation.

This year, approximately 1,500 students participated in the International Loving Peace Art Competition in Colombia, with a total of 14 students receiving first prize, special prizes, and encouragement awards.

The first prize-winning work from the Colombia preliminary round will be sent to South Korea to compete in the finals against the best entries from around the world.

The award ceremony, attended by approximately 200 guests, parents, and students, proceeded with a highlight video of the preliminary round, a congratulatory video message from representatives of the African Union (AU), the presentation of certificates to the winners, and a ceremony for the delivery of certificates of appreciation.

Gloria Cuartas, Director of the Peace Agreement Implementation Unit (UIAP: Unidad de Implementación del Acuerdo de Paz), stated, “This competition, as part of IWPG’s peace culture promotion initiative, is a very important event that recognizes children and youth as subjects of peace,” and added, “I will encourage the expansion of this competition to motivate a peace culture that transcends generations and to pass on a better world.”

José Enoch Cano Mora, President of the Colombia Chamber of Non-Profit Organizations, emphasised, “We must sow the seed of eternal life, love, for global peace together with IWPG.”

Eli Sahian Martin León, who received a special prize, expressed, “First, I truly thank God, and I am so happy and delighted to be able to give hope for peace to many friends through my work.”

The International Loving Peace Art Competition, hosted by IWPG, is part of a peace culture promotion initiative that provides an opportunity for children and youth to imagine and draw a peaceful world each year. The competition aims to spread the necessity of ending global war and the value of a peace culture, and to convey a message of peace by being held in major cities worldwide every year. The final judging will take place in September, with the award ceremony scheduled for November.

Meanwhile, IWPG is an International women’s NGO registered with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the Department of Global Communications (DGC), headquartered in South Korea. With the vision of ‘Realizing Sustainable World Peace’, IWPG is actively working to strengthen women’s solidarity, promote a culture of peace, provide women’s peace education, and support and advocate for the enactment of the ‘Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW).’