Article 1: ORGANIZATION

UNESCO, through its Headquarters in Paris, France (hereinafter "the Organizer"), is organizing a free-of-charge photography contest called Youth Eyes on the Silk Roads, with the theme "Reveal the Silk Roads", (through 'Life Celebrations'), only on the Internet, under the terms and conditions defined below. 

Dates: 2 May to 5 August 2024

The announcement of this photography contest will be made on the Organizer’s websites (in particular on https://en.unesco.org/silkroad and social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest), as well as on its partners’ websites and social media.

Article 2: ELIGIBILITY

The photography contest is open to everyone between 14 and 25 years old, regardless of his or her country of residence, except employees of UNESCO and the donor, China World Peace Foundation, and their family members (parents, children, siblings and spouses).

There will be two categories:

  • 14 to 17 years old
  • 18 to 25 years old

To participate, minors must provide written permission from their legal guardian(s):

"I, the undersigned Mr/Ms “full name” legal representative of “full name”, authorize him/her to participate in the photography contest "Youth Eyes on the Silk Roads" which runs from 2 May to 5 August 2024. I read and agreed with the terms of rules

Signed "City", the "Date" Signature

No minors’ participation will be accepted by the Organization without their written permission.

To confirm participation, each participant will have to follow the following instructions outlined below before 5 August 2024, 23h59m59s, (GMT+1 h):

  1. Go to the Participation page 
  2. Upload a maximum of 20 photographs:
  • Include a caption for each photograph or series of photographs, in digital format (JPEG or JPG)
  • The quality of the photographs must be at least 1,500 pixels wide for horizontal images and 1,500 pixels tall for vertical images. (See Article 3).  

To participate, entrants must have access to the Internet.

Participation is strictly personal and the entrant cannot enter the contest on behalf of another person.

Participation in the photography contest implies full acceptance of these rules and all of their provisions. Non-compliance with the rules will result in disqualification of the entrant.

Article 3: VALIDITY OF PHOTOGRAPHS

3.1.     Content of photos

The photographs must represent the theme "Reveal the Silk Roads" through ‘Life Celebrations’.

Only minor modifications to the photographs will be accepted (e.g. dodging and burning, aperture, cropping, colour balance) and must be clearly indicated in the image’s description.

Each photograph must not contain any personal information that identifies the photographer.

All participants must be able to provide a high-resolution image that, if selected, can be printed on different media for exhibitions.    

The Organizer reserves the right to remove any photograph that does not meet the criteria.

3.2.     Intellectual property rights

Each participant in the photography contest certifies that he or she is the sole copyright-holder of all submitted photographs and they are original to him/her.

The participant has full power to authorize the use of the photographs.

Each participant in the photography contest certifies that all submitted photographs do not violate or infringe on any existing copyright or any other third party rights and contain nothing otherwise unlawful.

By submitting a photo to the Organizer, the entrant in the photo contest authorizes its release (as well as the photographers full name, pseudonym, city and country of residence), in the framework of the photo contest and its promotion, on the website of the Organizer and those of its partners, as well as social networks (including Facebook and Twitter), on digital communication or media (newspapers, postcards, catalogs, books, posters, exhibitions, videos), without any form of compensation. Any other use of the photographs will be reported to the author, who is free to give or refuse consent for their use. The photos will not be used for commercial purposes (sales to third parties) by the Organizer unless authorized by the author. 
 
The Organizer agrees to state the name of the photo contest winners in all publications.

The participant agrees to indemnify UNESCO and holds it harmless against any third party claims for loss, injury, damage (including any legal costs and/or other expenses properly incurred), prejudice, liability or expense suffered as a result of or in any manner in connection with the entry, any other of the acts or omissions or any information provided, including but not limited to, claims for violation of copyrights.

The participant recognizes UNESCO as a specialized agency of the United Nations enjoys the 1947 Convention on the Privileges and immunities of the Specialized Agencies.

The participant grants the Organizer the right to use his or her name, photograph, image or likeness in the context of any recording, any presentation, speech or other form of publicity in connection with the photography competition.

The following credit shall be given: © NAME OF PHOTOGRAPHER/UNESCO.

The participant agrees that if an amicable settlement of any dispute relating to the contest cannot be reached, it shall be referred to arbitration in accordance with the UNCITRAL (United Nations Commission on International Trade Law) Arbitration Rules.

3.3.     Respect of privacy, image rights and good moral standards

No visual elements of another party (affecting privacy or image rights) may appear in the images. If the photographs show people, participants must obtain permission from them.

Photographs must not contain elements that are defamatory, offensive, pornographic, racist, insulting, unlawful or contrary to good morals.

Article 4: DETERMINATION OF WINNERS

4.1.     Selection criteria

Photographs will be selected on their originality, creativity, photographic quality and relevance to the themes of the 2024 "Youth Eyes on the Silk Roads" Photo Contest. The choice will be made according to the discretion of the Selection Committee. No appeals will be considered.

4.2.     Awards

  • 1st, 2nd and 3rd Awards.

In each age category, three photographs will be awarded by the international members of the Selection Committee. It is composed of five international personalities who are recognized for their artistic work and designated by the UNESCO. Subsequently, the Selection Committee is composed of five members with a chairman, as well as a representative of the UNESCO Director-General.

Article 5: AWARDS

  • 1st Award:  A professional digital single-lens reflex camera equipped with 18-55mm lens
  • 2nd Award: Semi-professional digital camera
  • 3rd Award: Digital camera

In the case of tied votes, the chairman of the Selection Committee will select the winner.

The announcement of the winners will be made in mid-September 2024, on https://en.unesco.org/silkroad

In the event that the proclaimed winner has been recognized as not having conformed to the contest’s requirements, an alternate candidate will be chosen to replace the disqualified participant.

The Organizer holds the right to exchange the awards for a similar award of the same value.

Winners must send their full contact information (name, email, address and date of birth).

The awards will be given to the winner in the award ceremony. No award may be subject for a refund or for exchange. The Organizer shall not be held responsible for theft, loss or damages of awards after it has been awarded to the winner.

Article 6: DATA PROTECTION

The information provided by the participants may be used for data processing, excluding commercial or political use. 

They benefit from the right to access, rectify and remove data about themselves by making a formal request to the Organizer of the photography contest.

Participants may request to be omitted or removed from the contest before the closing date of the submission.

Article 7: REIMBURSEMENT

Participation in the photography contest is free of charge. The organizer is not responsible for any expenses that the participants may be incurred in the creation and submission of the photograph.

Article 8:  RESPONSIBILITY OF THE ORGANIZER

The Organizer reserves the right to modify, extend, shorten, suspend or cancel the photography contest without notice and without liability incurred thereby (fortuitous event or “force majeure” and any other events that are considered as making it impossible for the execution of the photography competition as initially planned). No compensation will be awarded to the participants.

The Organizer will not be responsible for any Internet malfunction preventing access to the competition.

The Organizer will automatically disqualify any entrant who by tries to increase his or her chances of winning by using technical means, known or unknown to date. The Organizer holds the right to conduct audits of the methods used by the entrants to determine the consequences it deems appropriate.