ECO Cultural Institute Introduces Youth Award Promoting Cross-border Talent and Innovation

By: Ahsan Yameen

ISLAMABAD: The Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) has announced the ECO Youth Award in the fields of research projects including arts – preferably regional – culture and sports fields for the member states.

The youths from the 10 member states will be eligible for the award including Iran, Pakistan, Turkiye, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, according to a message received from the Pakistan Embassy in Tehran, where the ECO headquarters is also located.

A total of ten awards, one from each member state will be announced every year with a cash award of USD1,000 amongst the youth of 18-30 years of age, selected from the nominations made by each member state.

The need for the expansion of relations among the peoples in the ECO region, along with the significant role of youth as a major driving force for the ECO countries’ development, has increased the importance of planning to maximize their optimal participation in the activities implemented by the ECO Cultural Institute (ECOCI).

The Youth Award initiative has been proposed with the aim of discovering young talent and paving the way to further popularize the ECO Cultural Institute.

As there will be one winner from each member country, there will be no competition between countries.

The award is presented annually to the winners selected from the nominations made by the ECO member countries on occasions such as the ECO Day.

In order to identify the ECO’s top youth, the call for nominations will be published on the ECOCI website and the Ministry of Culture of each ECO member state will nominate up to a maximum of three persons.

The Award Committee, comprising the Cultural Attachés of ECO member states in Tehran will judge and select one winner from each country.

The ECO Award will be presented during a ceremony on the occasion of ECOCI Day/ECO Day.