CONTEST FOR YOUNG CARTOONISTS
Cairo – March 3, 2005 – A competition has been launched offering young Egyptians the chance to create the characters and story-lines for a new cartoon series focusing on the key issues facing youth of today. The competition is a joint initiative by the country's largest circulation newspaper, Akhbar El Youm, and the United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF.
The competition – open to young artists aged 13-24 – requires contestants to create a series of cartoon characters, and write short scenarios in which the characters will address issues relevant to young people.
The topics to be tackled by the cartoon series include girls' education, school drop-outs, child labour and violence against children. Among health issues to be explored are female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), HIV/AIDS, smoking and drug addiction.
UNICEF Programme Communication officer Sahar Hegazi said that using cartoon characters to explore such complex issues offered clear advantages.
"It means we can reach a wider audience on these sometimes sensitive issues ", said Dr Hegazi.”Cartoon characters can speak much more openly than real people can. They can use humour and put across a positive message that young people will accept."
Entries to the competition will be evaluated by a jury including some of Egypt's best-known artists, sociologists, and psychiatrists, a group of talented young cartoonists. Prizes will be awarded to the first three winners.
Akhbar Al Youm will develop the winning entries, and begin publishing the new series in its weekly "Boys & Girls" supplement later this year.
