Nationwide Children Drawing Contest “CHILDREN OF THE WORLD, JOIN YOUR HANDS!”

26 January 2010. – On 20 January UN Representative Office in Ukraine launched Nationwide Children Drawing Contest “Children of the world, join your hands!” on the occasion of the International Year of the Rapprochement of Cultures. The goal of the contest is conflicts prevention through human rights and tolerance promotion among children.

The contest is designed for 1-4 grades schools and secondary school students (6-10 years old). Drawings on international friendship and cultural diversity, performed by crayons, soft-tip pens, paint are eligible for the competition. 3 May 2010 is the deadline for the application. Exiting prizes are waiting for winners. The best works will be printed in a book on children rights, cultural diversity, and non-discrimination.

“Children and youth education in the spirit diversity, peaceful coexistence of different cultures, nations and religions is the most efficient way of conflicts, xenophobia and intolerance prevention”, - admitted UN System Resident Coordinator in Ukraine Olivier Adam.

As of November 2009, 193 countries have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, believing that the child should be brought up in the spirit of the ideals proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations, and in particular in the spirit of peace, dignity, cultural diversity, freedom, equality and solidarity.. All children, despite race, color, sex, language, religion, national or social origin, property status, etc., have the right for a happy childhood without war, offence and discrimination.

“Basic Education Guidelines” for pupils from 1 to 12 grade by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine emphasize the importance and necessity of educating children in the spirit of tolerance to all cultures and nationalities”, - said Olena Gaydamaka, methodologist of the Institute of Innovative Technologies of the Ministry of Science and Education – We recommend teachers to encourage pupils to take part in the contest, to familiarize children with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to introduce younger students to cultural diversity in Ukraine and worldwide in order to teach what respect to others is. 

The contest is held under the auspices of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, in partnership with the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), Regional offices of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Charitable Foundation “Rokada”. Information partners: magazine “Poznayka” and children's page "Sonyashnyk" of the newspaper "Silski Visti".

Please find more details of the contest on the website of the UN Office in Ukraine: www.un.org.ua. 

For more information about the organization of the contest please contact Olena Sadovnik, Information Associate of the UN Office Department of Information, by tel.: 254.00.35 or email: olena.sadovnik@un.org.ua.

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UN Office in Ukraine
The United Nations opened its representative office in Kyiv in 1992. Now the UN System in Ukraine represented by 13 specialized agencies: the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) , the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations High Commisioner For Refugees (UNHCR), the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Labour Organization (ILO), and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). Also active are UN related organizations, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) ,the World Bank, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime(UNODC) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) More information:www.un.org.ua.     

International Year of Rapprochement of Cultures
The year 2010 will be celebrated as the International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures. The goal of the International Year consists in making the rapprochement of cultures the hallmark of all policy-making at local, national, regional and international levels, involving the greatest number of relevant stakeholders.
http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=39761&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html