TEHRAN – An Iranian boy named Ilia Afsharmand has won a gold prize at the 29th World Children’s Picture Contest in Japan.Ilia, who is 13, received the honor for his painting entitled “Sport and Empathy Humans and Animals”.The competition is annually organized by the Ie-no-Hikari Association and Tokyo-based family magazine Ie-no-Hikari.Nineteen other children from different countries, including Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine, Sri Lanka and Japan, were honored with gold prizes.The Iranian children Mehrnaz Hosseini, Nazanin    Bayati and Kimia Musavi were also given silver prizes.Forty participants from different countries were honored with silver prizes.In addition, Parmis Khajui, Zoha Rabbani, Radin Karimi and Fatemeh Mohammadi were awarded bronze prizes.Dozens of children were also awarded honorable mentions.
Among them are the Iranian children Shahrad Ravanshadi, Shahin Amiri, Amir-Ali Taghavifard, Parnaz Gudarzi, Sina Emadi, Sheida Rezai, Setareh Shahveisi, Meshkat Elahian, Shadi Hosseini and Atena Sefvati.They all are members of Iran’s Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults. Winners were selected after passing through two stages of rigorous judging.The Ie-no-Hikari Association works hard to foster the cultures of rural villages by publishing books such as the magazine and implementing various cultural activities. As a part of its diversified activities, the association has held the World Children’s Picture Contest since 1993 with the hope of creating friendships and mutual understanding between children all over the world.Photo: “Sport and Empathy Humans and Animals” by Iranian boy Ilia Afsharmand won a gold prize at the 29th World Children’s Picture Contest in Japan.MMS/YAW