Deadline: June 15, 2018

Young people from around the world are invited to enter the 2018 International Essay Contest for Young People organized by the Goi Peace Foundation. This program is an activity of the UNESCO Global Action Programme (GAP) on Education for Sustainable Development.

This annual essay contest is organized in an effort to harness the energy, creativity and initiative of the world’s youth in promoting a culture of peace and sustainable development. It also aims to inspire society to learn from the young minds and to think about how each of us can make a difference in the world.

The Goi Peace Foundation is dedicated to fostering a sustainable and harmonious global society by promoting consciousness, values and wisdom for creating peace, and by building cooperation among individuals and organizations across diverse fields, including education, science, culture and the arts.

Theme

“The Change I Want to Make”

What is the one thing you would like to change the most to make your school, workplace, community, country or the world a better place? How would you bring about that change? Please share your concrete ideas.

Awards

The following awards will be given in the Children’s category and Youth category respectively:

• 1st Prize:    Certificate and prize of 100,000 Yen (approx. US$880 as of January 2018) and gift – 1 entrant
• 2nd Prize:   Certificate and prize of 50,000 Yen (approx. US$440 as of January 2018) and gift – 2 entrants
• 3rd Prize:    Certificate and gift – 5 entrants
• Honorable Mention:  Certificate and gift – 25 entrants

1st prize winners will be invited to the award ceremony to be held in Tokyo, Japan on November 23, 2018 and will receive the Minister of Education Award. (Travel expenses will be covered by the organizer.)

Additional awards (Recognition for Effort, Best School Award, School Incentive Award) will be given if applicable.

All prize winners will be announced on October 31, 2017 on the Goi Peace Foundation web site (www.goipeace.or.jp). Certificates and gifts will be mailed to the winners in December 2018.>> We are unable to answer individual inquiries concerning contest results.

Eligibility

• Essays may be submitted by anyone up to 25 years old (as of June 15, 2018) in one of the following age categories:
• Children (ages up to 14)
• Youth (ages 15 – 25)

Guidelines

• Essays must be 700 words or less in English, French, Spanish or German, or 1600 characters or less in Japanese, excluding essay title and cover page. Essays may be typed or printed.
• Entries may be submitted by postal mail or online.
• Entries submitted by postal mail must include a cover page (free format) indicating (1) category (Children or Youth) (2) your essay title (3) your name (4) address (5) phone number (6) e-mail (7) nationality (8) age as of June 15, 2018 (9) gender (10) school name (if applicable) (11) word count.
• Teachers and youth directors may submit a collection of essays from their class or group. Please enclose a list of participants’ names, ages and the name and contact information of the submitting teacher or director.
• Essays must be original and unpublished. Plagiarized entries will be rejected.
• Essays must be written by one person. Co-authored essays are not accepted.
• Copyright of the essays entered will be assigned to the organizer.
• If you have questions, please consult the FAQ section.

Application

PLEASE SEND YOUR ENTRIES TO:

International Essay Contest c/o The Goi Peace Foundation1-4-5 Hirakawacho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0093, Japan

OR Send your essays online here.

For more information, visit Goi Peace International Essay Contest.