UNFPA in coordination with the Ministry of Information and Culture celebrated Peace Day with Ghulam Mohammad Maimanagi Institute in Kabul by organizing a painting contest with the 55 students.

The ceremony started with speech by Mohammad Zia Afshar, the Deputy Minister of Culture of the Ministry of Information and Culture who highlighted the role of Art in bringing peace as art values plays a vital role in bringing peace to a nation. He said that the language of Art is the same all around the world and only an artist can highlight it through the language of Art.

"68% of population in Afghanistan is under the age of 25, out of which 33% are the ones between the age of 10-14, hence youth has the most important role in development and reconstruction of Afghanistan." said Mr. Payab, Assistant Representative of UNFPA in Afghanistan.

The participants were divided in to three groups where each group was supposed to draw based on a specific message. The messages were about "Peace begins at home: Say no to domestic violence; every person has the right to all health services; Send your girls to school to bring prosperity at home and across the nation.

Mr. Payab informed the participants that based on available sources 80% violence is domestic violence and asked the participants to highlight the importance of peace at home through their work. He also talked about the non-accessibility to health facilities and how major the problem of maternal mortality is in Afghanistan where in every 100,000 life-births 1,600 mothers lose their lives. Also despite the increase in girl's enrollment in schools, still very limited number of girls is enrolled in comparison to the boys' enrolment. He asked all the groups to highlight the importance of these factors through their work.

Three participants, one from each group won first prize and runners-up received second and third prizes. The painting of the students will be utilized in the upcoming UNFPA publications.