International Essay Contest for Young People

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.

*This program is an activity within the framework of the UNESCO Global Action Programme (GAP) on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD).

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SEND YOUR ESSAY ONLINE

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.
Guidelines	1.	Essays may be submitted by anyone up to 25 years old (as of June 15, 2018) in one of the following age categories: a) Children (ages up to 14) b) Youth (ages 15 - 25)
	2.	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.
	3.	Entries may be submitted by postal mail or online. * IMPORTANT: To send your essay online, you must go to the online registration page and follow the required steps.
	4.	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. * Entries missing any of the above information will not be considered. * We are unable to confirm receipt of essays.
	5.	Essays must be original and unpublished. Plagiarized entries will be rejected.
	6.	Essays must be written by one person. Co-authored essays are not accepted.
	7.	Copyright of the essays entered will be assigned to the organizer.
	8.	If you have questions, please consult the FAQ section below.
Deadline	Entries must be received by June 15, 2018 (23:59 your local time).
Awards	The following awards will be given in the Children’s category and Youth category respectively: 1st Prize: Certificate, prize of 100,000 Yen (approx. US$900 as of February 2018) and gift ... 1 entrant 2nd Prize: Certificate, prize of 50,000 Yen (approx. US$450 as of February 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, 2018 (Japan time) on this website. Certificates and gifts will be mailed to the winners in December 2018. * We are unable to answer individual inquiries concerning contest results.

For further inquiries concerning the International Essay Contest for Young People, please contact essay@goipeace.or.jp

Organized by

The Goi Peace Foundation

Endorsed by

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan
Japanese National Commission for UNESCO, Japan Private High School Federation
Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education, Japan Broadcasting Corporation, Nikkei Inc.

Supported by

FELISSIMO CORPORATION, SEIKO HOLDINGS CORPORATION, PLUS CORPORATION

Essay Contest 2018 Flyer (PDF)

English
Japanese
French
Spanish
German

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