Are you passionate about the Indian Ocean region? Sustainable development and advocating for a better future? Then this writing competition is just for you!
An initiative implemented by the IORA Secretariat Public Diplomacy and Communication Unit on the occasion of IORA Day 2022, young passionate writers from Member States are to be invited to participate in a Youth Writing Competition. Deadline: 15 February 2022.
This writing competition is inviting youth from Member States to write about a specific topic from the IORA’s Priority and Focus Areas: • Maritime Safety and Security; • Fisheries Management; • Academic, Science and Technology Co-operation; • Trade and Investment Facilitation; • Disaster Risk Management; • Tourism and Cultural Exchanges, including the two cross-cutting issues on the Blue Economy and Women’s Economic Empowerment.
For the first edition of the writing competition, contributions may focus specifically on issue/s related to marine debris (plastics) or the Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing. In addition, participants are encouraged to add in their submissions a focus on what IORA can do to address the issue/s.
PARTICIPATION CRITERIA
- The competition will be open to the 23 Member States of IORA.
- The competition will be open for youth aged between 15 – 27 years.
- Only one submission per participant would be considered, and a maximum of 10 submissions per Member State.
- It is proposed to submit written papers or articles (limited to 2000 – 4000 words typed pages in format Arial Narrow – 12 font, single spaced) on the issue/s of marine debris (plastics) or the IUU fishing. The focus of the piece could be on what IORA can do to address the issue/s.
JUDGING CRITERIA
A general rule is that a submission must clearly relate to the annual theme/topic and explain the topic’s significance for IORA’s strategic goals. Any submission failing to do so will be disqualified without looking at other judging criteria. Other proposed criteria:
- Originality
- Quality of Contents: information, figures, and concepts
- Proper English Language and Word limit (if any)
- Good diction
- Creativity
RECOGNITION AND HONORARIUM
The following honorarium would be provided to the top 3 winners:
- 1st winner - Euros 1,000
- 2nd winner - Euros 600
- 3rd winner - Euros 400
The winners will receive signed certificates by the IORA Secretary General and the IORA Chair (Bangladesh). In addition, the papers/essays of the 3 winners will be published in the 25th IORA Commemorative Magazine which will be published in 2022 during the Silver Jubilee Celebrations. The winners of the competition would also be recognised as ‘IORA Youth Ambassadors’, which would be expected to promote the Association among their educational networks and forums.
IORA YOUTH PUBLICATION
The top fifteen (15) submissions of the participants would be published in a ‘Special Online IORA Youth Reader's Digest’ to commemorate the First Edition of the writing competition.
Author Requirements:
- Articles/Papers must be no more than 4,000 words.
- Arial Narrow 12 font, and single spaced.
- Authors will be required to fill in a ‘Permission to Publish’ form for copyright purposes. The ‘Permission to Publish’ form would be provided to the Authors upon submission to the IORA Secretariat Public Diplomacy and Communications Unit.
- A copy of the Author ID/Passport will be required to be accompanied with the ‘Permission to Publish’ form.
- Articles/papers submission should be sent on the following e-mail addresses: hq@iora.int and iora.media@iora.int by 15 February 2022.
- Authors are encouraged to submit articles in Microsoft Word (doc. or docx) or PDF format to the IORA Secretariat.
Follow the conversation #IORAofficial
