TEHRAN – Several Iranian artists have won prizes at the Asia-Pacific Ozone2Climate Art Contest.

The competition was organized by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) for youth and adults in the fields of drawing, graphic design and photography.

“Ozone Is for Us” by Amir-Hossein Babazadeh is among the three winners of the second runner-up prize in the youth graphic design category.

Fanna Meng from China and Ngo Huynh Bao Ngoc are other winners of the prize.

Baibhaba Moharana from India and Sirikron Longsuwan from Thailand were the first runners-up and “A Seed of Hope” by Filipino artist Shaina Akmad won the top prize.

A second runner-up prize in the photography section was awarded to Fatemeh Azarifar for her photo “Save the Ozone Layer”.

Two other second runner-up prizes went to Qamar Abbas from Pakistan and Scurllet Pentani from the Solomon Islands.

Chan Chenmy from Malaysia took first place, and Enayet Abir Ismail from Bangladesh and Kwankhaow Charoenchainoppakul from Thailand were selected as first runners-up.

In the drawing category for youth, Iranian artists failed to win an award, while the top prize was given to Adrianne Nicole Sitjar from the Philippines for “Let There Be Shield on Earth”.

In the adult section, no one from Iran won an award. However, Alireza Farmandeh-Bahri in the graphic design category, Negin Nahavandi in the drawing category and Sorayya Abbasalinejad in the photography section won honorable mentions.

The Iranian artworks were submitted by the Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults – Kanoon.

The winners were announced on September 16 to celebrate World Ozone Day.

This competition, which took place over a one-year period, aims to raise public awareness about the importance of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer for protecting human health and nature and to generate further support for the treaty’s compliance objectives. 

The contest was held with contributions from the UNEP OzonAction team in the Asia Pacific Office, UNESCO and Mahidol University in Thailand.

Photo: “Save the Ozone Layer” by Fatemeh Azarifar won a second runner-up prize in the photo category of the Asia-Pacific Ozone2Climate Art Contest.

MMS/YAW