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On the afternoon of 22 October, the awards ceremony for national round winners of the international childrenâŔ™s competition "A Safer World" and the opening of an exhibition of the entries were held at the Riga PupilsâŔ™ Palace. Participating in the event were Andris Berzins, LatviaâŔ™s Prime Minister, Jiri Kubicek, the Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Latvia, Ivars Pundurs, Under-secretary of State of the Foreign Ministry of Latvia, Elmars Vebers, Director of the Department of Education, Youth Affairs and Sports of the Riga City Council, Ringolds Beinarovics, Director of the National Youth Initiative Centre, and Juris Bogdanovs, Director of the Riga PupilsâŔ™ Palace. At the opening of the exhibition, the Prime Minister thanked all the Latvian children for such a big response and participation in the competition, stressing that all of us would perceive the notion of a "safer world" differently, and that it was nice to find out that some associate it with oneâŔ™s family, others with nature or oneâŔ™s beloved pets. The Prime Minister concluded by wishing the children good luck in the International Drawing Competition in Prague scheduled to take place on 21-22 November 2002. Elvijs Bukss from the Upite Elementary School was the winner of the first prize in the age group of 6-10, and Marija Kozika from the Riga Rinuzi Secondary School was the winner in the age group of 11-15. Altogether 400 works of pupils from different schools were competing, and 250 out of these are exhibited. The works of the children reflect the notion of security and illustrate how they see it. Marija Kozika, the winner of the first prize, stressed that "people can choose whether to live in harmony with nature or in a dirty and dark world". Works of the winners of the competition (about 30 in total) will be sent to Prague where they will represent Latvia in the International ChildrenâŔ™s Drawing Competition "A Safer World". The competition will take place within the framework of the Prague Summit, and the best works of the NATO aspirant countries will be exhibited at the Prague Congress Centre, and afterwards published in the form of postcards that will be presented to the delegates and press at the NATO Summit in Prague. The Prague Summit, which is considered the most important event of this year, will be attended by leaders, politicians, academicians and representatives of non-governmental organisations of countries around the world, who will be able to get acquainted with the childrenâŔ™s view on âŔśa safer worldâŔť. The national competition was organised by the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Latvian Embassy in the Czech Republic, Department of Education, Youth Affairs and Sports of the Riga City Council in co-operation with the Riga PupilsâŔ™ Palace.
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