Three Filipino youth won the Norwegian-sponsored World Bank’s 2009 International Essay Competition with their essay, video and photograph entries, besting more than 2,000 submissions from over 150 countries, 90 percent of which come from developing countries.
Victor Marco Emmanuel Ferriols from the University of the Philippines-Visayas won third place with his video “Losing shores, losing more,” and Jernalyn Gayon from the Western Mindanao State University, Zamboanga City won third place for her photograph on how people can sponsor a scholar every month by collecting plastic bottles. Miguel Antonio Garcia from the University of San Carlos, Cebu City was chosen as a finalist in the essay category with his entry, “Stepping Up To The Challenge: The Cebuano Youth in the Climate Change Crisis.”
The Essay Competition is an annual, worldwide contest targeting youth aged between 18 to 25 years and managed by the World Bank Office in Paris. This year’s topic was “How does climate change affect you? How do you tackle climate change through youth-led solutions?” This year’s competition was sponsored by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Korean Ministry of Strategy and Finance, and the World Bank.
