In September 2015, leaders of all nations gathered at the United Nations Headquarters in New York and made a historical agreement to work towards “The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”, for all people and the future generations. To bring awareness of the SDGs, a photo contest will be hosted by the United Nations Information Centre and Sophia University, with special cooperation from Getty Images, on the theme “My View on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”. This contest is open to graduate, undergraduate, and vocation college students. This is the first SDG contest of its kind among the 63 UNIC offices network around the world and the United Nations Department of Public Information (UN-DPI).

Without using words, encapture your take on one or several goals of the 17 SDGs. Photos may be taken in Japan or overseas. You are encouraged to ask yourself: What can I do to change the world? How would the forward-looking Goals affect my behavior and attitude? How can I raise awareness among my friends, family and community members, and urge them to take action? Your ideas on these questions will be the key to achieving the SDGs.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted at the UN Sustainable Development Summit in September 2015, represent an action plan for solving global challenges by 2030. The SDGs comprise a total of 17 goals including: ending poverty in all forms, fighting against inequality and addressing climate change, each of which sets specific targets for action or reduction. The achievement of those goals requires the participation of all countries of the world, as well as every individual living in those countries. (Please visit http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/ for more information about the SDGs.)

 

The contest’s theme is to encourage students to “reflect on the Sustainable Development Goals, communicate their feelings in a photograph and share it with many other people.” We will invite the participation of a wide range of students, particularly those in the more than 40 Japanese universities, including Sophia University, participating in the UN Academic Impact, a partnership between the United Nations and institutions of higher education.

We will have several judges including celebrity photographer Leslie Kee and Newsweek Japan’s photo director Hideko Kataoka. As for awards, one student will win the first prize, three will win the second prize, one will win a special prize respectively, and several honorable mentions will also be made. These prizes will be bestowed by cooperative enterprises. There will be an award ceremony and exhibition at Sophia University of prize winning works on the United Nations Day (24th October), when the UN Charter came into force in 1945. In addition, there is a possibility that license contracts with Getty Images will be made available for the winning contestants (however, their works submitted in this competition will not be covered).　We look forward to your participation in the upcoming photo contest. Application form and more details are available on http://competitions.gettyimages.com/en/competitions/sustainabledevelopment/the-brief#.V1fWBSxf3cs

Overview

❖ Application period: Friday 10 June 2016 – Sunday 4 September 2016
❖ Eligibility: university students, junior college students, postgraduate students, vocational school students (any nationalities welcome/ not a requirement to be living in Japan)
❖ Prizes: 1st Prize (Foreign Minister Prize) for 1 person
               2nd Prize for 3 persons
               Special Prize (Dior Woman-Empowerment Prize) for 1 person
               Honorable mention for several persons
❖ Judges： Leslie Kee (Photographer)
                  Natsuki Yasuda (Photo Journalist)
                  Hideko Kataoka (Photo Director, Newsweek Japan）
                  Rebecca Swift (Creative Director, Getty Images)
                  Hiroaki Mizushima (Professor, Dept. of Journalism, Sophia University)
                  Kaoru Nemoto (Director, United Nation Information Centre)
❖ Host： United Nation Information Centre and Sophia University
❖ Special cooperative company： Getty Images Japan
❖ Sponsors： Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Global Compact Network Japan (GC-NJ)
❖ Cooperative companies： CCC Media House Co.,Ltd., NIKON CORPORATION, PARFUMS CHRISTIAN DIOR (Japon) K.K., Ryohin Keikaku Co.,Ltd., SIGMA CORPORATION (in alphabetical order)　　
❖ Additional gifts will be bestowed by the host, special cooperative and cooperative organizations

Hosted by: Sophia University
An educational community dedicated to developing human resources capable of actively contributing from a global point of view to solving such contemporary issues as poverty, starvation, the environment and discrimination, while at the same time responding to the needs of the times for new knowledge and wisdom. The university is a Member of the United Nations Academic Impact and Global Compact. It organizes “UN Week” every June and October, and has held the UN Photo Exhibitions, including the one on People and on Landmines, the UN Essay Contest and talk sessions by UN officials.

Special cooperation: Getty Images   
Getty Images offers business customers more than 200 million digital contents in more than 100 countries, and is considered the largest company in the field. Professionals in the creative and media industries discover, purchase and manage images and other digital contents using Getty Images services.

＊　＊＊＊　＊