International Essay Content for Young People(2009)

Organized by The Goi Peace Foundation and UNESCO
Endorsed by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan
Japanese National Commission for UNESCO, Japan Broadcasting Corporation
Nikkei Inc., Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education
Supported by Japan Airlines

The United Nations has designated 2001-2010 as the "International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World" and 2005-2014 as the "United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development." Not only should young people benefit from these global initiatives, but they should be empowered to play a leading role in them. The theme of the 2009 International Essay Contest for Young People was "The role of science in building a better world."

From among 4,506 entries from 134 countries and regions, the following winners were selected. First prize winners will receive the Minister of Education Award at a ceremony during the Goi Peace Foundation Forum 2009 to be held at Ginza Blossom Hall in Tokyo on November 8, 2009.

List of Winners

1st Prize

Children's category (1 entrant)

• Our Sea, Our Future
  Christ Soselisa (Age 11, Indonesia)

Youth category (1 entrant)

• Science and Struggle: The Fusion of Research and Compassion
  Parwiz Abrahimi (Age 23, Afghanistan & USA <Living in USA>)

2nd Prize

Children's category (2 entrants)

• Building A Smarter Planet
  Divya Gopinath (Age 11, USA)
• Electricity for a Change
  Amit Jung Himali (Age 11, Nepal)

Youth category (2 entrants)

• Biodegradable Material for Electronic Equipment
  Hamida Amalia (Age 19, Indonesia)
• When Science Meets the World
  Phang Wen Bin (Age 20, Malaysia)

3rd Prize

Children's category (5 entrants)

• Electrical Outages and Influenza
  Motoharu Fuchikawa (Age 10, Japan <Living in India>)
• Let It Light the Darkness: A Dream Comes True
  Adeline Tiffanie Suwana (Age 12, Indonesia)
• Photosynthetic Masks and Global Warming
  Mizuki Hashimoto (Age 13, Japan)
• Dynamic Science: The Makings of a Better World
  Denzil Furtado (Age 13, Australia)
• “Science” Equals “Humans”
  Tatsuhiko Hasemi (Age 14, Japan)

Youth category (5 entrants)

• The Power of Science Illuminating the World
  Heidi Baumgartner (Age 16, USA)
• Proposal: Innovating Solar Power Systems to Improve Lives
  Lilian Kanaya (Age 16, USA & Japan <Living in USA>)
• Scientific Development and the Coexistence of Animals and Humans
  Hikari Kunitomo (Age 17, Japan)
• Favoriser l’accès aux sciences pour construire un monde meilleur
  Kim Pawliw (Age 17, Canada)
• The Role of Science in Building a Better World: Shifting the Paradigms!!
  Ruby Karmacharya (Age 21, Nepal)

Honorable Mention

Children's category (24 entrants)

• Sae Takabe (Age 6, Japan <Living in Ghana>)
• Sana Ghafoor Rahman (Age 8, USA)
• Mahiro Sena (Age 9, Japan <Living in USA>)
• Chavdar Lalov (Age 9, Bulgaria)
• Lovely Marian C. Masakayan (Age 9, The Philippines)
• Arjun Soni (Age 10, India)
• Jimin Kim (Age 10, South Korea)
• Nur Danya Shamun (Age 10, Maldives)
• Yashi Srivastava (Age 11, India)
• Lillith Bulawa (Age 11, USA)
• Yaislin Rivas (Age 12, Venezuela)
• Haruka Tada (Age 13, Japan)
• Rana Miyamoto (Age 13, Japan <Living in Russia>)
• Antariksh Mahajan (Age 14, India <Living in Singapore>)
• Hiroki Otake (Age 14, Japan)
• Taiju Sasaki (Age 14, Japan)
• Su bin Han (Age 14, South Korea)
• Suh Yoon Lee (Age 14, Korea <Living in China>)
• Sohum Rajguru (Age 14, India <Living in UAE>)
• Valeria Liseichikova (Age 14, Belarus)
• Kenta Bani (Age 14, Japan <Living in Bolivia>)
• Hu Fangda (Age 14, China <Living in Singapore>)
• Taro Henmi (Age 14, Japan)
• Eriko Numata (Age 15, Japan)

Youth category (25 entrants)

• Fania Octavia (Age 15, Indonesia)
• Christopher W. Eur (Age 16, USA)
• Narumi Takahashi (Age 16, Japan)
• Shoko Arima (Age 17, Japan <Living in USA>)
• Kumiko Kato (Age 17, Japan)
• Hongkeun Jeon (Age 17, South Korea)
• Abhishek Raman Parajuli (Age 18, Nepal)
• Paula Szymczak (Age 18, Poland)
• Milicevic Luka (Age 18, Serbia)
• Anna Malinovskaya (Age 19, Russia)
• Ong Yong Ming (Age 19, Singapore)
• Istrate Irina Stefania (Age 20, Romania)
• Alexey Korenev (Age 21, Russia)
• Kamil Mroz (Age 22, Canada)
• Ty Rithya (Age 22, Cambodia)
• Ankit Sharma (Age 23, India)
• Carlos Antonio Alonso Bartesaghi Koc (Age 23, Peru)
• Irodahon Saidova (Age 23, Uzbekistan)
• Varuzhan Sahakyan (Age 23, USA)
• Daniel Noye (Age 24, Ghana)
• Wara Urwasi (Age 24, Indonesia)
• Elías Rubén Calizaya Mamani (Age 25, Bolivia)
• Marie Goto (Age 25, Japan)
• Zemfira Inogamova (Age 25, Kyrgyzstan)
• Manya Ranjan (Age 25, India <Living in USA>)

Best School Award

No School Applicable

2009 Award Winning Essays (Anthology in PDF format)

Essay Contest 2009 Guidelines

Essay Contest 2009 Entries by Region