Nguyen Khanh Linh, a six-year old student from ArtHome Mulberry Lane and her mother look at the paintings. She wins top prize with the painting Don't Let Waste Become Food of the Sea. Photo courtesy of the embassy

This year, the Vietnam Denmark Friendship Association (VIDAFA) and the Embassy of Denmark held the contest with the theme 'Waste Management'.

The contest received huge support from elementary and secondary school students nationwide, with more than 15,000 paintings from 29 provinces and cities submitted in six weeks.

The high quality of the submissions and the creative ideas behind them made it difficult for judges to select the best paintings.

The panel of judges was comprised of acclaimed painters from Kim Đồng Publishing House and Nhi Đồng (Children) newspaper.

The grand prize went to Nguyen Khanh Linh, a six-year old student from ArtHome Mulberry Lane with the painting Don't Let Waste Become Food of the Sea. She won a camera and a set of LEGO toys.

Other individual awards were given to students of elementary and secondary schools from Hanoi, HCM City, Ben Tre and Bac Giang. In addition, there were 100 individual encouragement prizes and two prizes for groups.

“The Vietnamese children have never ceased to surprise me with their serious interest in the environmental agenda and their artistic talents,” said Ambassador of Denmark Kim Højlund Christensen.

“Their paintings have shown that the love and concern for our planet is universal despite differences in age or citizenship. The Danish government has decided to appoint 15 Danish embassies worldwide to be green frontline missions, including the Danish Embassy to Vietnam.

“This gives us more great opportunities for continuing our co-operation with Vietnam to further promote the green and sustainability agenda in this country.”

All 400 paintings were handed to the National Children’s Hospital where they will decorate the patients’ rooms. Photo courtesy of the embassy

After the awards ceremony, all 400 paintings were handed to the National Children’s Hospital where they will decorate patients’ rooms. This is the second time VIDAFA and the Embassy of Denmark have donated the paintings of the contest to children’s hospitals.

“In addition to their prime purposes of promoting awareness and sharing ideas and visions about waste management, the paintings also serve a good cause as they hopefully can provide much needed distractions to young patients during their battles against sickness,” Ambassador Christensen said.

The first edition of the competition took place in 2016. VNS

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