In several countries of South Asia, girls and women are facing complex challenges which are constraining their autonomy and well-being and are most impacted by the unprecedented food and nutrition crises, the widespread poverty, and the lingering impacts of conflict. There is no limit to the sacrifices a mother would make for her child. Many mothers here go hungry the entire day or even days to ensure their child gets something to eat. What is happening in Afghanistan is true for all of South Asia. The circumstances may vary, but the harsh realities and the harrowing ordeals remain true. The latest research shows that the regions with the highest levels of maternal undernutrition also contain the highest numbers of child undernutrition cases. The interlinkages are obvious and impress of the strategic need to address under-nutrition in children together with malnutrition in adolescent girls, pregnant and breastfeeding mothers. The world is failing to adequately nourish adolescent girls and women. Every girl and every woman must be assured their right to healthy and nutritious food every day, and not just when they are pregnant. The consequences of poor nutrition can last a lifetime, increasing girls’ and women’s susceptibility to infections, mental health problems, and diet-related chronic diseases, and reducing their ability to earn income and live a life with dignity. This reinforces gender inequalities by making it more difficult for adolescent girls and women to escape poverty and build a better future.

Together we need to ensure three actions-

1. Ensure availability of nutritious foods for adolescent girls and women and free access to essential nutrition and maternity benefit services before and during pregnancy and while breastfeeding.

2. Protect adolescent girls and women from nutrient-poor, ultra-processed food.

3. Last but not the least, eliminate discriminatory gender and social norms that undermine women and girls’ to eat last and least and accord them a lower status in society, lower education and leading to pregnancies- too early, too many and too soon.

We are hopeful this contest will help reignite attention and compel urgent action for nourishing girls and women everywhere in South Asia, particularly those who are poor, marginalised and disempowered by mounting humanitarian crises, conflicts and emergencies. The scale of the challenge in the region is massive. We understand the problem and we know what works.

CONTEST GUIDELINES

Theme-

Women Nourished and Valued

What will it take ?

Who can participate?

Professional and non-professional cartoonists, 18 years and above are welcome to participate.           

How to participate?

Please read the background note and explainer video on the contest theme.

Create cartoon works around your vision around either plight of the problem, efforts underway around the three actions

Works must be original and pertaining to any of the eight countries in South Asia region. AI based graphic techniques are not allowed. The submitted artwork(s) must not have been previously published or previously used for any other purpose.

Works may be black & white or coloured.

Each entry should include a covering letter with the cartoonist’s full name, country, Postal address, Contact no. and E-Mail ID.

The digital works have to be sent in JPEG format with a minimum of resolution of 300 dpi (2480 x 3543 pixels).png and .tiff files are also acceptable (maximum size of 3 MB per cartoon) for digital cartoons.

The cartoons are to be drawn on A4 format.

•Submissions must be static images with no Flash or other animation.

Number of entries per contestant: maximum three cartoons.

Text or captions, if any, should be in English.

Each artwork should be accompanied by a short description (minimum 30 words, maximum 100 words)

All submissions (files) must have the name and country of entrant included in the file.

Works should not be awarded at other festivals / contests.

Deadline for submission of Cartoons / Artwork is 30 August 2023 

The art works must be sent to: following email address: 2023unicefwomennutrition@gmail.com

Disclaimer

The content, thoughts and views expressed in the creatives / illustrations will be sole responsibility of the participating Artists. UNICEF will not be held responsible for any content, views expressed by the artists in the creatives / illustrations developed.

Publication rights

Intellectual Property rights – all works submitted will become the property of UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia and artists will be acknowledged by UNICEF when the art is used.

Jury

Decision of the judges/organisation will be final and binding.

Decisions made by the jury cannot be challenged. No correspondence with the jury will be allowed on their decisions.

By entering the contest, each entrant agrees to abide by these rules.

Failure to follow entry directions as listed will result in disqualification.

Prizes

Online felicitation by UNICEF for top-5 best cartoon awards

Unicef gifts

E-certificates to all participants

Exhibition

The results of the competition will be announced 18th September 2023 followed by an exhibition of the selected works will take place in the gallery (Kathmandu) Nepal along with an online felicitation ceremony of the winners in a session at the conference.

Postal Address

United Nations Children Fund | Regional Office for South Asia (ROSA)

P.O. Box 5815, Lekhnath Marg, Kathmandu, Nepal

Tel: +977-1-4417082, Fax: +977-1-4418466