UN youth photo competition sheds light on Sustainable Development Goals

AMMAN — It was not until participating in an Instagram photography competition about Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that Asmaa Dahleh learned more about the internationally endorsed goals.

In a recent field trip to the Dead Sea, the fourth year geology student took a photo showing the decreasing water levels made evident by piles of salt that were once covered with water.

When she learned about the competition organised by the UN Communications Group (UNCG), Dahleh decided to share the moment she captured with the online community of her family and friends.

“I knew very little about the SDGs before I participated in the competition,” she told The Jordan Times on Sunday at the competition’s award ceremony. 

She said that she embarked on a journey to learn more about the SDGs and sharing their importance, particularly the environmental goals, with everyone she knows.

Another winner in the competition is Omar Othman, a 25-year-old Irbid resident, whose photo displayed Wihdeh Dam located between Jordan and Syria. 

“The dam provides Jordan with clean water, and Syria with affordable electricity,” he said, adding that the photo is not only an embodiment of the 6th and 7th goals, but also carry a deeper level of meaning that unites the Jordanian and Syrian people.

Dahleh and Othman were two of the 10 winners of the virtual competition, which in its first cycle sought to utilise the high presence of young Jordanians on social media to further raise awareness on the SDGs, according to organisers.

Speaking at the awarding event, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Imad Fakhoury underscored the role of young people as advocates of change, adding that the tools of technology and communication can be used to spread the word about the SDGs and encourage further popular involvement and ownership.

He noted that Jordan’s biggest investment in this regard lies in its younger generation, adding that young Jordanians are already taking part in cross-country workshops about the SDGs and have participated in Jordan’s voluntary presentation of its achievements on the implementation of the SDGs in the United Nations in July.

UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Jordan Andres Pedersen underlined Jordan’s commitment to the SDGs, adding that Jordan’s efforts towards the realisation of the 17 goals in their economic, social and environmental dimensions, is “exemplary”.

“Jordan is now used as one of the cases that others are expected to follow on how we can promote further the SDGs,” he said.

Regarding the photography competition, he said winners will work as “advocates and champions” of the development goals among their communities, in a bid to raise further awareness about the goals and boost citizens’ participation.

The evaluation criteria considered relevance to the main theme of the competition, originality and creativity and design, according to the UNCG. 

The 10 winners, whose contributions were selected out of over 35 submissions, will be named “UN SDG Advocates” and will undergo three training programmes on the SDGs, photography and basic infographics.

The winners will also take part in field visits to different locations of projects relevant to the SDGs, in coordination with the UNCG, where they will be introduced to the projects and take photographs to be shared through their social media channels.