The “Shape the Future” competition concluded with an awards ceremony hosted by the British High Commissioner Philip Barton in the capital on Wednesday to present awards to the winners of essay and drawing and paintings’ competition held across the country.
The painting and creative writing competition, launched in September by the British High Commission and the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) in Pakistan, invited students from across the country to put forward their views on the changes they believed would make the most difference to people’s lives in Pakistan.
The competition aimed to engage young people in the broader international debate on a new set of Sustainable Development Goals to follow on from the Millennium Development Goals after 2015, said a statement of the British High Commission on Wednesday.
Students participated from across Pakistan including Karachi, Peshawar, Sargodha, Islamabad, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi. Their entries displayed the talent of Pakistan’s youth and their understanding of the ongoing discussion on the post-2015 development agenda. Another aspect of the “Shape the Future” activities involved holding debates with students of Development Studies at Iqra University, SZABIST and Bahria University in Islamabad. These debates engaged Pakistan’s youth on a range of post-2015 development issues ranging from education, health, gender and environmental sustainability. A report based on these discussions was represented to UNDP Country Director Marc-Andre Franche.
Around 40 paintings and essays were displayed at the awards ceremony, and the winners were announced by Philip Barton. The awards ceremony was attended by members of the development sector and the diplomatic community.
