NEW YORK: Prakash Hatvalne, a professional, freelance photographer from Madhya Pradesh, India has won the first prize in the anti-poverty themed photography contest conducted by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
Hatvalne’s photograph featuring a boy on his way to school in India was selected in the professional category judged by UNDP goodwill ambassador and internationally acclaimed actor Antonio Banderas and four other photo journalists.
A photograph of female and male students in Pakistan working together on a circuit board in their engineering class, and fishermen in Viet Nam bringing in the day’s catch were the two other winning photographs chosen in this category.
Hatvalne has been documenting the Bhopal gas tragedy since it happened, mostly for the Associated Press.
“By showing what people around the world are doing to eradicate extreme poverty in their communities, we see that the Millennium Development Goals are not just abstract targets, but are about making a tangible difference in people’s lives,” said Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator. “It is our hope that through showcasing these real and positive actions, more people will be motivated to contribute to this effort.”
The second annual “Picture This: We Can End Poverty” photo contest was organized earlier this year by the UNDP in partnership with Olympus Corporation and The Agence France-Presse (AFP) Foundation and aimed to profile people in both developing and developed countries contributing to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in their local communities.
The MDGs are eight internationally-agreed targets, which aim to reduce poverty, hunger, maternal and child deaths, disease, inadequate shelter, gender inequality and environmental degradation by 2015. The contest was designed to motivate people and governments to redouble their efforts in the fight against extreme poverty, in advance of the world leaders’ summit to review MDG progress, to take place 20-22 September in New York.
“It is inspiring to see ordinary people doing something positive to achieve these Goals as they go about their daily lives – children and adults studying in complex environments, local organizations advocating for women’s rights, powerful campaigns to improve people’s health,” said Antonio Banderas. “It is my hope that these actions develop into a wave that will influence the heads of state Summit next week in New York, to give us a meaningful outcome.”
Nearly 1400 contestants submitted more than 3,000 photos in both the professional and amateur categories, and three top prizes were awarded in each of these categories. Additionally, the public voted online for a People’s Choice award.
Piyal Adhikary is the other photographer from India whose photographs were chosen in the professional category. Among the Indian photographers who won in the amateur category are Partha Pratim Saha, Joydeep Mukherjee and Saikat Mukherjee.
India Post News Service
