World Environment Day Painting Competition awards winners and raises environmental awareness

The winners of the annual World Environment Day 2012 paining competition in Qatar were announced at a glittering event held at Al Rayyan Theatre in Doha recently.

More than 2000 entries had been received for the competition which was this year’s themed “Save the Environment” as part of the global World Environment Day theme ‘Green Economy – does it include you?’ – an initiative promoted by the UN Environment Programme.

Ninety children and adults were recognized in the awards and finals ceremony which was jointly organised by International Academy for Inter-cultural Development (IAID) and Friends for the Environment Center for the 6th consecutive year, under the auspices of FEC chairman Dr Saif Ali al-Hajari.

Dr Saif told the gathering that safeguarding the environment was everyone’s responsibility and that this started in the home with the family for the benefit of future generations, especially the youth and children. He said: “This year’s theme reflects our environmental challenges as we realize how investment in new technologies and expenditure on human behaviors can help protect environment.”

Ms. Abeer Al Kalla, Head of PR and Communications of Al Khalij Commercial Bank, who sponsored the event for the second consecutive year, also emphasized that the protection of the environment was everyone’s responsibility.  She said: “We all play a key role to preserve and protect environment. Commercial Bank sponsors the WED competition for the second consecutive year as part of its environment commitment.”

She said that the environment was one of the most pressing issues the world faced today and if, for example, the impact of climate change and sea-level rise was not mitigated that within 50 years the Doha Corniche would be under water and City Center mall would be at the seafront. 

Ms. Katia Abboud Saba, Acting Public Relations and Communications Manager for Oryx GTL Limited also spoke, congratulating the winners for their efforts. She said: “We’d like to congratulate each participant. Everyone is a winner for us because in their own way, they have raised awareness about environment. Oryx GTL considers environmental issues as core initiative and sustainable development is a key value. We respect environment in everything we do.”

There were six category of winners, with the best participating school recognition going to Birla Public School. The three winners of each category were:

Adult – Winner, Sauman Pal, second place Mahesh Kumar and in third Dr Sreekumar Padmanabhan;

Catergory A, for age group 4 – 6, the winner was Maryam Sohail of Al Khor International School followed by Muhammed Rayan Savad Birla Public School then Jai Murli Kannan Doha Modern Indian School

Category B, age 7-9, was won by L Raman Kishore of  DPS- MIS, followed by Dhruv Rao of Birla Public School then Labiba Tasnim of The Next Generation School;

Category C, age 10 to 12 years, was won by Deepak Sajikumar MES Indian School followed by J.M. Adhetya Narayan of MES Indian School and Johara Ahmad Al Slaten Cambridge Int’l School for Girls;

Categroy D, 13 to 15 yrs was won by Cut Izza Fildza Alyssa of Al Khor International School, Ju Myoung Lee Compass International School in second place followed by Abraham of Birla Public School;

Category E, age 16-18, was won by J.M. Soorya Narayan of MES Indian School followed by Tharindu Gamage of Doha College then Ameena Abdulla Ali-Almalik of Al Wakra Secondary School for Girls.

The event included dance performances from IAID students. IAID director Mr Rajesh Jadhav said this year’s competition was an overwhelming success as they received the biggest number of entries since WED painting contest started and in the process had helped to raise awareness about environmental issues in Qatar and globally.

The WED 2012 celebration in Qatar was sponsored by: diamond sponsor – Al Khalij Commercial Bank (al khaliji); platinum sponsor – Oryx GTL Limited, gold sponsor – Gulf Agency Company Qatar. It was also supported by event partners Faber-Castell, InterContinental Doha, Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar, ILoveQatar.net and Al Rayyan Theatre.

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