UNESCO Regional Youth Contest for Human Rights in Eastern Africa 2026
📖 About the Contest
Through essays or poems, videos or animations, and creative art, participants are encouraged to promote UNESCO’s five core human rights education themes:
- Freedom of expression, information, and privacy
- Scientific progress
- Cultural participation
- Access to water and sanitation
Participants are invited to use innovative, ethical, and context-relevant approaches, including digital tools and AI, to creatively address these themes.
🎁 Benefits
Awards for the Best Submissions:
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Prizes for the Best Essay/Poem/Video/Animation:
- A round trip (for each category) from the applicant's home country to participate in a UNESCO-organized conference (in 2026 or 2027), including accommodation.
- A UNESCO Certificate.
- Opportunity to present the Essay/Poem during a dedicated session.
- Publication of the Essay on the UNESCO Website.
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Prizes for the 2nd and 3rd Best Submissions:
- Cash awards:
- $1,000 USD for 2nd place.
- $500 USD for 3rd place.
- A UNESCO Certificate of participation.
- Opportunity to participate in and contribute to an online event organized by UNESCO.
- Publication of the Essays/Poems/Videos on the UNESCO Website.
- Cash awards:
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From 4th to 30th Selected Submissions:
- A UNESCO Certificate of participation.
- Publication of the Essays/Poems/Videos on the UNESCO Website.
✅ Eligibility Criteria
To participate in the contest, applicants must meet the following requirements:
- Age: Be a youth aged between 18 – 35 years.
- Nationality: Be a national of one of the 13 Member States covered by the UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa:
- Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Tanzania, Somalia, South Sudan, and Uganda.
- Language:
- For Essay/Poem: English or French.
- For Video: English, French, or Swahili (if Swahili is used, captions in English must be included).
- Originality:
- Submissions must be original, innovative, and unpublished.
- Already published works or plagiarized entries will be disqualified.
- If quotations are used, references must be included at the bottom of the essay/poem (references are not included in the word count).
📅 Application Date and Process
- Submission Deadline: 21 March 2026, at 23:59 p.m. EAT.
- Submissions must be uploaded via the official application form.
- The deadline coincides with:
- International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
- World Poetry Day.
🗓 Application Deadline
- 21 March 2026
📥 How to Apply
To apply, visit the UNESCO Regional Youth Contest for Human Rights in Eastern Africa application portal.
Good luck to all participants! 🌟
Awards:
i) Prizes for the best Essay/Poem/Video/Animation: A round trip (for each category) from the home country of the applicant to participate in a conference organized by UNESCO or a partner (in 2026 or 2027), including accommodation; a UNESCO Certificate; opportunity to make a presentation of the Essay/Poem during a dedicated session; publication of the Essay on the UNESCO Website.
ii) Prizes for the 2nd and 3rd best Essays/Poems/Videos/Animation: Cash awards of respectively 1000 USD (2nd) and 500 USD (3rd); a UNESCO Certificate of participation; Opportunity to participate in and contribute to an online event organized by UNESCO; publication of the Essays/Poems/Videos on the UNESCO Website.
iii) From 4th to 30th selected Essays/ Poems/Videos/Animation, a UNESCO Certificate of participation; publication of the Essays/Poems/Videos on the UNESCO Website.
