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The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in the Republic of Belarus (UNHCR) and Centre for Children and Youth Evrika (CCY Evrika) together with the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Belarus opened today the Exhibition of Children’s Drawings and Posters in the Museum of History of the City of Minsk.

The exposition contains the best works out of all submitted to the republican competition of children's art works, and it is one of the events devoted to World Refugee Day (20 June).

The Competition, based on the results of which the best drawings, computer posters and social video clips are chosen, are organized jointly by the Representation of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in the Republic of Belarus (UNHCR), Ministry of Education of the Republic of Belarus and Centre for Children and Youth "Evrika" (CCY Evrika) among children of schools throughout Belarus for the 17th time. This year Andrey Selivanov, executive director of the INA “Evolutio”, was a member of the Commission for the assessment of the works.

Increasing the cultural awareness of refugee problems, especially among children, prevention of latent discrimination, development of tolerance and mercy is stated as the main goal of the Contest and Exhibition. School children form 1st till 11th forms around whole Belarus were proposed to send drawings, posters and video clips dedicated to the refugee topic. The topic in 2019 resembles the motive of the previous years “We are different, we are together”. This year Organization Committee received over 1000 art works on the topic of displaced persons from all regions of the country. Refugee children also actively participated in competition.

Aliaksandr Velikarodnau, Senior programme Assistant of the UNHCR Office in Belarus, delivered an opening speech where he emphasized the importance of such contest and the necessity of awareness-building work on refugee problems in the future.

Svetlana Shmagorevskaya, Director of the Centre for Children and Youth Evrika (CCY Evrika) together with the representatives from the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Belarus and public schools of Minsk delivered welcoming speeches and awarded the winners. Svetlana Shmagorevskaya congratulated children with a victory in the competition and also wished children to see only blue sky above them.

In addition, this year the editorial board of the newspaper "The Adolescence" awarded children with a special prize.

Throughout the awarding ceremony, the winners were pleased with the school children of the CCY “Evrika”: everyone present at the event liked songs and dances performed by children of different nationalities.