Calling for Submissions: UN4U Video Contest

1 September 2016                                                                                                                                                        Media Advisory No: N/13/2016 

Calling for Submissions: UN4U Video Contest

Why are the Sustainable Development Goals important for the Asia-Pacific region?

This year, UN Day on 24 October will be celebrated across Asia and the Pacific with a video contest highlighting the ways in which people in the region are working towards implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), based on seven key themes. The themes are: Education 2030, Sustainable societies, Resource efficient growth, Poverty eradication & inclusion, Disaster risk reduction, Gender equality and Better data. 

The UN invites people over 18 years of age from any country in the Asia-Pacific region to submit 20-second videos in English on their favorite SDG theme. When making the videos, contestants are encouraged to showcase their visions about why education, sustainable societies, resource efficient growth, poverty reduction, disaster risk reduction, gender equality and/or better data are important to the future of the region. 

Contestants should be creative! They can express themselves through song, dance or sketches, or simply tell us why their favorite theme is important, in front of unique locations or landmarks in their respective countries. 
A montage of submissions, as selected by the judging panel, will be screened at UN Day events throughout the region. Winning entries in  the ‘Judges Favorite’ and ‘Most Liked’ categories will be  shared on social media channels and awarded prizes of up to USD$350. 

Video submissions for this contest should be uploaded to YouTube with the hashtags #UN4U and #AsiaPacific by 30 September 2016.  Further details and the terms and conditions of the competition are available on: www.unescap.org/un-video-contest-2016. 

What:         Submissions to the 2016 UN4U Asia-Pacific video contest 

Who:        Adults over 18 years of age from any country in the Asia-Pacific region 

When:         Submissions open 1-30 September 2016 

How:         20-second creative videos uploaded to Youtube with the hashtags #UN4U #AsiaPacific   

For media enquiries, please contact:

Ms. Kavita Sukanandan, Associate Public Information Officer, Strategic Communications and Advocacy Section, ESCAP, T: (66) 2 288 1869 / E: sukanandan@un.org

OPPORTUNITY: Nominate an Asia-Pacific SCP Youth Ambassador DUE 11TH MARCH, 2016

For more info view/download the full application package here

University of Hawai'i Group Set Up an Online Fundraiser for TC Winston Victims

A crowdfunding page was set up by students and teachers from the University of Hawai'i to provide relief to those in Fiji affected by Tropical Cyclone Winston.

According to the page "Help Communities in Fiji Overcome Cyclone Winston" on
Youcaring.com, the group have been working in collaboration with 20 communities in Fiji for the past four years "to gain a better understanding of traditional Fijian knowledge and practices that have historically allowed communities to be resilient in the face of major disturbances."

The group were supposed to return in February but after TC Winston, their trip was deferred to May.
"We have postponed our trip until May to allow these communities (that were impacted) time to identify what their recovery needs are in the long-term and raise funds to assist them in rebuilding their communities," the group states on their fundraiser site.

 For more information click here or contact Ashley McGuigan (aamcguig@hawaii.edu)