Mexican girl chosen as regional winner for Latin America and the Caribbean in UNEP’s 23rd International Children’s Painting Competition on the Environment 2014

Mexican girl chosen as regional winner for Latin America and the Caribbean in UNEP’s 23rd International Children’s Painting Competition on the Environment 2014

María José Labastida Albisua: “I was inspired by the pain and suffering that afflict so many people.”

Panama City. 22 April 2014. María José Labastida Albisua, a 14-year-old Mexican girl, has been chosen as the regional winner for Latin America and the Caribbean in the 23rd International Children’s Painting Competition on the Environment 2014, organised by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) with the support of Nikon and the Foundation for Global Peace and Environment. “I wanted to depict the situation of all the food that is wasted in the world and show how this problem affects everyone, but in a way that would make people with greater economic capacity reflect on how to take full advantage of all the food resources in those countries and share that potential with the countries that do not have it.” This was the message that María José wanted to communicate through her prize-winning drawing. She and the winners from the other five regions will receive a cash prize (USD 1,000) as well as a fully paid trip to the next Tunza International Conference. “My drawing expresses serious concern about what is happening in the world and I would like to find solutions to these problems,” María José commented to the contest organisers. Her drawing, along with a selection of other prize-winning works, will be featured in exhibitions around the world. They will also be shared on the internet and used in posters, postcards, calendars and publications to raise public awareness about food waste, a global problem that has negative impacts on human beings and the environment, as well as significant economic consequences. “I was inspired by the pain and suffering that afflict so many people.” The theme for this year’s competition was Food Waste, with the subthemes Save the Planet—Save Food, Wasting Food is Wasting the Planet. Children between the ages of 6 and 14 years from throughout the region were invited to reflect on these themes and express their viewpoints through art. “For my drawing, I was inspired by the pain and suffering that afflict so many people in the world, including people in my own country, where there are regions affected by droughts and excessive rain. A very clear example for me is the Sierra Tarahumara, in Chihuahua, where many people die of hunger, in contrast to the cities, where a lot of food is wasted,” said María José. The competition is held annually, and has received more than three million entries from children in over 150 countries since it was first held in 1991. For this year’s competition – in which the selection of the global winner is currently underway – a total of 884 entries from nine countries were submitted in the Latin America and the Caribbean region. “The message is clear and the work is precise.” Each UNEP regional office (Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, Asia and the Pacific, West Asia, North America and Europe) selects a regional winner. The selection of the winner for Latin America and the Caribbean was coordinated by the UNEP Regional Office in Panama. The jury was comprised of recognized artists, environmental educators and UNEP officials. After studying the entries submitted from the different countries of the region, the jury decided that María José’s drawing was the one that best represented this year’s theme, while achieving a significant aesthetic impact. “The message is clear and the work is precise, with well-defined elements and good technique,” the jury commented. “The drawing reflects a holistic view of what the problem is, as well as the contrasts on a global level. Food is wasted or lost, with a negative impact on the environment, in the different stages of production, post-harvesting, processing and distribution, while part of the population suffers from a shortage of food,” they added. The International Children’s Painting Competition on the Environment is part of UNEP’s Tunza strategy for children and youth. Tunza is a Kiswahili word that means “to treat with care or affection.” The aim of the Tunza initiative is to foster a global movement in which young people from around the world are actively engaged in environmental activities, as well as to raise awareness in order to influence civil society and policy makers to take action for the environment. “These types of projects are important initiatives that should be supported, because they offer a space for young people to express themselves and describe how they see the world. They are unspoilt and they see the world in a different way,” the jury observed. The winner María José Labastida Albisua Date and place of birth: 8 October 1999, Mexico “My main idea was to show the contrast between the waste of food and the shortage of food, and so I drew a huge plate that represents the world. The plate is breaking, because on one side the wealthy countries have an excess of food and they waste it, without fully taking advantage of it. That’s why I drew the garbage bins, where nobody can take advantage of all that food. On the other side of the plate is the complete opposite: lands that don’t produce food, droughts, lack of resources, hunger and death, which I think is something terrible but it is something that we ourselves cause because we don’t want to see that there are other people in greater need.” To download the winning drawing and photos of the winner and of the jury, click on this link: http://www.pnuma.org/2014_concurso_pintura_infantil/ fuente. pnuma