HORIZON INTERNATIONAL SOLUTIONS SITE

Climate change is one of the most critical global challenges of our time. Recent events have emphatically demonstrated our growing vulnerability to climate change. The impacts of climate change will range from affecting agriculture – further endangering food security –, sea-level rise and the accelerated erosion of coastal zones, to increasing intensity of natural disasters, species extinction and the spread of vector-borne diseases.         

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in cooperation with the Japan-based Foundation for Global Peace and Environment (FGPE), Bayer and the Nikon Corporation, invite children from around the world to express their thoughts on climate change through the medium of art by participating in the16^th International Children’s Painting Competition on the Environment.    

The Competition has been held annually since 1990 and in that time has received close to 200,000 entries from children in over 100 countries. It is part of UNEP's TUNZA programme for children and youth.  'Tunza' means to treat with care and respect in Kiswahili and it is a wide-ranging programme to involve children and young people in environmental issues.

Children who will be between the ages of 6 and 14 years on World Environment Day 2007 (5 June) from all regions of the world are invited to submit their paintings on the theme to their Regional UNEP Office by 31 December 2006.

Judging takes place in two rounds: UNEP Regional Offices and their partners will select regional winners, while the final selection will be done by UNEP, the Foundation for Global Peace and Environment (FGPE Japan), Bayer and Nikon.

Winners for the regional competitions will be announced in April 2007. Winners for the global competition will be announced on World Environment Day, 5 June 2007.  

The regional first prize winners and the global winner will each receive a cash prize and a trip for them and an accompanying adult to the 2007 official World Environment Day celebrations in Tromsø, Norway. Other prizes include diplomas, plaques, T-shirts, stationary and drawing sets. 

The winning paintings will be exhibited at various venues in Japan, Germany, Norway, and other countries, as well as on the websites of the Competition organizers. In the past, painting competition entries have been used on UNEP posters, post cards, calendars, in UNEP publications or environmental magazines to be distributed worldwide.

After the Competition, all paintings will be stored in the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka, Japan.                                        

For full rules – including guidelines on which country belongs to which region – and information on how to submit entries, please see the Painting Competition website: http://www.unep.org/tunza/paintcomp.                            

Read about 2006 contest winners on the Horizon Solutions Site.

For more information, please contact:

Theodore Oben, Head, Children and Youth Unit

Division of  Communications and Public Information UNEP

Tel: +254-020 762 3282

theodore.oben@unep.org

Entries from Asia and the Pacific should be sent to:                      

UNEP Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific                       

United Nations Bldg., Rajdamnern Avenue                           

10th Floor, B-Block                                     

Bangkok 10200, THAILAND                                   

Tel: (66-2) 2881870

Fax: (66-2) 2803829                           

sarabuddhi@un.org                               

Entries from Europe should be sent to:                             

UNEP Regional Office for Europe                               

15 Chemin des Anémones, Châtelaine-Genève,                           

219 Chatelaine, Geneva, SWITZERLAND                              

Tel: (41-22) 917 82 79

Fax: (41-22) 917 80 24                        

roe@unep.ch                                    

Entries from Latin America and the Caribbean should be sent to:               

UNEP Regional Office for Latin America & the Caribbean                  

Boulevard de los Virreyes No. 155                              

Col. Lomas Virreyes, CP 11000- Mexico,                             

D.F., MEXICO                                          

Tel: (52-55) 5202 6394

Fax: ( 52-55) 5202 0950                         

enlace@pnuma.org                         

Entries from North America should be sent to:                         

UNEP Regional Office for North America                           

1707 H Street, NW, Suite 300                                  

Washington, D.C 20006, USA                                   

Tel: (1-202) 785 0465 Fax: (1-202) 785 2096                          

bvd@rona.unep.org

Entries from West Asia should be sent to:                           

UNEP Regional Office for West Asia                              

P.O. Box 10880                                         

Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain                                   

Tel: (973) ) 17812752-17812777

Fax: (973) 17825110                       

uneprowa@unep.org

Entries from Africa should be sent to:                             

UNEP Regional Office for Africa (ROA)                            

P.O Box 30552                                         

Nairobi 00100, KENYA                                      

Phone :(254 2) 624 284

Fax: (254 2) 762 3928                          

roainfo@unep.org

Contact:

Jim Sniffen

Information Officer

UN Environment Programme

New York

tel: +1-212-963-8094/8210

info@nyo.unep.org

UNEP at http://www.unep.org/

 Is solely responsible for the contents of this press release of 3 August 2006.