UNICEF Voices of Youth & The Guardian Writing Contest

Have your say and get published on-line by an international newspaper

Q: What’s the contest about?

UNICEF and The Guardian newspaper regularly produce special features about the role that business can or should play in realising the rights of children:http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/child-rights-business.

These features look at issues such as corporate social responsibility programmes and they showcase good examples from around the world. For the next feature – which will be published on The Guardian online at the end of November – UNICEF and The Guardian want to hear your views about the role that businesses can play in the development and well-being of children. By sharing your thoughts on UNICEF’s global youth community – Voices of Youth – the best entry will be published on-line.

So you stand the chance to be published in this next special feature!

Q: Ok, I’m interested. What is the topic that I need to write about?

The question that you should try to answer in your written piece is:

“Why is it important for children & youth to have a voice in business?”

Q: Do you have any tips for me?

· We are looking for your personal views and opinions on this issue.

· Think of any companies whether supermarkets, airlines, phone or internet companies, banks…

· Look for reputable facts and statistics that can help you back up your opinions – for example look up data about how many children there in your country or research successful examples from your country where a business is doing something good for children.

· If you have writer’s block try to think about these questions when you write– they will help you structure it:

– As an online user, in what ways do you think businesses should be impacting/empowering your life?

– As a consumer, how do you think businesses should impact your life and the lives of other children?

– As the next generation of leaders, how do you think technology /consumer based/financial based businesses should be impacting/empowering the lives of children?

– What do you think is the role of businesses when it comes to voicing out children’s needs/concerns?

– If you became a business leader today, what would be one of the first things you would do to make this world a better/safer place for children?

Q: What do I need to know to participate?

· Your piece should be between 300 and 500 words long.

· Your piece needs to be written in English.

· Deadline for submissions is 18 November 2013.

· You must be 24 years old or younger.

· The piece you write must be an original piece written by you. If you use any information from other websites or quotations from people you should indicate who they are from and the sources (name of the book, website URL).

· The winning piece that will appear in The Guardian & UNICEF Sustainable Business Supplement will be selected by a panel of judges from The Guardian and UNICEF. The supplement will appear online-only. Runner-up submissions may be featured too.

· Your name, age, and location will be published in the supplement.

· The editors of The Guardian may edit the grammar of the winning piece for publication purposes.

Q: How do I submit?

· To submit your entry, go to www.voicesofyouth.org. Click on “sign up”.

· Follow the instructions to create an account. Once you have created an account, click on “create a post”.

· Submit your article by creating the post. For detailed instructions consult this section:http://www.voicesofyouth.org/en/sections/featured/pages/what-can-you-th–do-

· Please tag your article “Guardian Submission”.

· At the end of your article please write your name, your age, and where you are from.

· If you experience any problems with signing up or submitting the article please email Kate (kpawelczyk@unicef.org) or Julie (julie@voicesofyouth.org)

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