IP/09/1572 Brussels, 22 October 2009 Youth Prize shows commitment of young Europeans to fight poverty The Development Youth Prize 2008/9 was awarded today in Stockholm, during the European Development Days 2009. The high quality of entrants to the poster and video competition shows just how commited young Europeans are in the fight against poverty. Karel De Gucht, European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, said: "Students have approached this year's topic – human development in Africa – with great imagination and sensitivity. It shows that they have perfectly understood what our development assistance aims to achieve and why Europe's help is needed. These young Europeans are real ambassadors for development and cooperation between Europe and Africa.” The 54 finalists of the poster and video competition aimed at 16 -18 olds, were awarded their prizes during an award ceremony in the Kulturhuset in Stockholm. EU Commissioner Karel De Gucht announced first and second prizes winners and handed over their respective prizes: The 27 first prize winners – one from every EU member state – will go on a five day trip to Africa to see with their own eyes how development cooperation is done. They will visit development projects, but also have opportunities to meet people their age. It is hoped that they will share this experience with friends and their family and in this sense they become ambassadors for development. The 27 second prize winners received their certificates at the award ceremony and took part in the youth outreach programme of the European Development Days in Stockholm, including a Development Quiz and a music performance. The award ceremony was moderated by Shire Raghe, a Swedish Television and MTV presenter. Posters of the winners were shown at an exhibition during the event. More than 1200 young Europeans participated in this year’s edition of the Development Youth Prize. The success shows that they are genuinely interested in development issues and are committed to fight poverty. Background: The European Youth Prize is organized by the European Commission to raise awareness about development among young people. Students from the European Union between the ages of 16 to 18 can participate. Started in 2006, it has a focus on Africa and development issues. This year's topics were "gender equality", "children and youth" or "cultural diversity", as the overall theme was human development in Africa. The grand jury was composed by experts from different fields, including development education, art and media. The European Development Days (EDD) is a development forum organised by the European Commission and the country holding the Presidency of the EU (Stockholm, 22 – 24 October 2009). It brings together some 4 000 people and 1 500 organisations from the development community. Delegates from 125 countries are represented, including heads of state and leading world figures, Nobel prize winners among them. The European Development Youth Prize: http://www.dyp2008.org/ The full list of winners, the posters and videos (available for download and rights-free usage by the media) can be found at: http://www.dyp2008.org/ww/en/pub/dyp2008/enter.htm DevelopmentDays: http://www.eudevdays.eu/about_the_event/introduction_en.htm