TUNZA

Out of 565 film proposals from 75 countries submitted to tvebiomovies, 14 films presenting a range of messages in a range of styles were selected to go into production.

Voting is now open to the global public with each view counting as one vote. The winners will be the most watched films on the tvebiomovies website.

From 25 to 27 September 2013 in Bangkok, Thailand, 50 youth from 15 countries attended the ASEAN Water Dialogue Conference on Water Security Cooperation in ASEAN: Revisiting the Long Term Commitments and Building Capacity for Youth Engagement.

One of the aims of the conference was to monitor the implementation progress of national and regional strategies towards Southeast Asia's vision for water by 2025. The conference was also a move forward after the 2013 Chiang Mai Declaration on Water Security and Water-related Disaster Challenges as well as the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Resolution 69/8 on Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and ESCAP Resolution 69/12 on building resilience. The conference also focused on developing youth engagement in water security and water-related disaster management.

The youth participants presented their visions, objectives, and proposed projects and served as rapporteurs, speakers, and even facilitators in discussions. Participants interacted with each other as well as policy makers and officials to discuss ASEAN water issues and develop programs and projects for youth to work with governments on these issues. The Great ASEAN Eco-Debates was launched and is slated for early 2014, and a Social Media Competition and Video Competition were also launched for youth to communicate their ideas regarding water issues.

Eco-generation, Samsung Engineering's Social Responsibility Program, in partnership with United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) teamed up to start a visual conversation in Asia and the Pacific around sustainable development to engage young people in sustainable actions that result in positive environmental benefits in their local communities through art.

This competition coincides with the objectives of UNertia, a UNEP/UNESCO initiative that empowers young people as change agents and beneficiaries of sustainable development.

Through this digital poster-making competition, youth aged 6 to 24 from the Asia and the Pacific region had a chance to share their stories of environmental issues pertaining to energy, waste and water in their respective community or country. Entries should demonstrate the issues they are experiencing in these areas and/or the action required to solve them. By sharing these issues and actions, the aim is for youth in Asia and the Pacific to be inspired to engage in sustainable actions in their respective communities. Organizers are looking for captivating, inspiring and effective posters that speak to youth and the general public.

Prizes included a Samsung ATIV smart PC, Samsung Galaxy Note, Samsung Galaxy Player, and other Samsung devices.

The artwork had to be an original work in the form of graphic designs, digital illustrations, or photographs. Any available design applications or programs could be used. Criteria were based on clear messaging, creativity/originality and artistic quality, and was judged through online voting.

Congratulations to Jezamine Chua from Singapore who won 1st Prize, Zarul Adzri who won 2nd Prize, De Carlo Daniels who won 3rd Prize, as well as all who participated.

The winning digital posters will be used in UNEP/UNESCO communication materials to promote the UNertia Campaign.

For more information on the winners of the Digital Poster-Making Competition, CLICK HERE.

The 6th South East Asia Youth Environment Network (SEAYEN) held its Sub-regional Conference from 22 to 27 March 2013 in Bali, Indonesia. The conference was jointly organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Regional Office of the Asia and the Pacific and Bayer A.G. and was convened by the National Youth Achievement Award Council (NYAA) Singapore.

What does the post 2015 development agenda mean for the youth? What role do they play in shaping the post 2015 development agenda? How do we ensure that youth views are included and that the new set of goals will include issues that are important or directly affecting young people? These are some of the issues discussed during the 6th Southeast Asia Youth Environment Network (SEAYEN) meeting. Youths then joined the High Level Panel Meeting which took place 24-27 March 2013 and the Member of Parliament and Civil Society discussions which took place 25-27 March 2013.

The 6th SEAYEN meeting gathered young leaders from Southeast Asian countries and aimed to foster cooperation, exchange and discussion among them and strengthen the capacity of these young leaders on themes and issues related to Post Rio+20 and the Post-2015 Development Agenda. The conference provided a forum for dialogue and exchange of ideas and experiences among the participants, youth environmental projects/activities and developed the SEAYEN work plan for 2013/14.

The meeting resulted in a Southeast Asian youth message/statement on UN Post 2015 that can be shared with partners, youth networks in the region and where relevant, to the wider UN community.

View the Youth Statement to the UN High-Level Panel Meeting in English HERE.