TEHRAN – Iranian children have won some of the main prizes at the 21st JQA International Environmental Children’s Drawing Contest in Japan.

Eleven-year-old Mohammad-Mani Rabiei received a JQA special prize, while seven-year-old Panisa Momtazian was honored with the special jury prize, the organizers have announced.

Ailin Alizadeh and Maedeh Taheri, among the 45 children participating in the event from across the world, received the first prize of the competition, which was organized by the Japan Quality Assurance Organization (JQA) on the theme of “Our Earth in 2030”.

These children are members of the Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults across Iran.

Iranian children Mohammad Hassani, Nirvana Rustai, Nilufar Afshari and Elaheh Sotudeh also received honorary diplomas.

The Environmental Best Prize, the contest’s grand prize, went to the 11-year-old boy, Mahi Ahnaf Maymun, from Bangladesh.

Zhen You Chen from Taiwan won the international best prize, while Teodora V. Odobisteanu from Romania received the UNICEF prize.

The two special prizes of the International Certification Organization Network (IQNet) were garnered by Miriam Clus from Romania and Kozul Asja from Slovenia.

Sara Cvetkova from North Macedonia was the winner of another JQA special prize.

“Children’s drawings always give me joy and teach me many things,” said jury president Kinutani Koji, who is also a painter and an emeritus professor at Tokyo University of the Arts.

“The pure feelings displayed in the children’s works are invigorating; they convey the sentiment that animals and plants are our fellow family members onboard this ship called Earth,” he added. 

“I think that adults have finally started to resonate, because the passion of children has been shaking them,” he noted.

Since 1999, the Japan Quality Assurance Organization (JQA) and International Certification Organization Network (IQNet) have been organizing the JQA International Environmental Children’s Drawing Contest for children aged between 7 and 15 from around the world. The competition is also supported by the UNICEF Tokyo Office.

The organizers hope that the contest provides the children an opportunity to think about the global environment, by expressing their inspiration from nature’s bounty. 

In addition, they believe that the efforts to protect the global environment will be further encouraged through the appreciation of such children’s drawings.

Photo: Painting by the 11-year-old Iranian boy Mohammad-Mani Rabiei won a JQA special prize at the 21st JQA International Environmental Children’s Drawing Contest in Japan.

MMS/YAW