UNICEF launches ‘Media Magic Make a Difference!’ for children video contest

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has called on young people under 25 to submit a one-minute video highlighting such issues as protecting children against abuse and promoting healthy lives, for its “Media Magic Make a Difference!” video contest, which will see the winning entry made available to broadcasters worldwide.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has called The contest’s theme, “A World Fit for Children,” was chosen in honour of the 5th anniversary of the UN General Assembly’s Special Session for Children in 2002 and its adopted agenda “Building a World Fit for Children.”

UNICEF is asking youth video makers to look at the four priorities of the agenda – Promoting healthy lives; Providing quality education; Protecting children against abuse, exploitation and violence; and Combating HIV/AIDS – and to demonstrate how one or more of the goals have affected their lives.

“Have these goals been achieved in your community? What problems still exist where you live? What suggestions do you have to solve them? What can be done to build a world for children?” it said in a press release. All entries must be received by 30 March 2007. For information on acceptable formats and how to submit, please visit www.unicef.org/voy.

The winning video will be featured on the UNICEF and Voices of Youth (VOY) websites, vodcast by UNICEF, featured in the Media Magic Digest and be included in the Fund’s International Children’s Day of Broadcasting (ICDB) 2007 materials, which are available to broadcasters around the world. A vodcast is the delivery of on-demand video content.

The winning director will also be honoured at a New York awards ceremony during a conference for PROMAX/BDA, the worldwide association of entertainment marketers, promoters and designers that is also one of the co-sponsors of the competition. The other sponsors are Voices of Youth (VOY), an online portal for young people to learn more about global issues, and the oneminutesjr network of young videomakers worldwide.