National Youth Essay Writing Competition for Youth (Students) of Universities

The Ministry of Youth and Sports (MoYS) is hereby wish to announce and launch an essay competition for Students attending Universities in Somaliland. The launching of National Youth Essay/article writing competition is aiming to sensitize youth across the regions on the importance of adolescents, young people and youth reproductive health and protection. The competition also aims to facilitate discussions and increase the knowledge of the youth on such issues as well as discussing on existing national policies and laws, with encouraged and creative learning throughout the process.

This is targeting University students in Somaliland, between the ages 17 and 24 years. To be eligible competitors/participants must be university students within the age category above as at date of the deadline for essay submission stated at the below.

GUIDELINES FOR THE NATIONAL YOUTH ESSAY COMPETITION (NAYEC)

1. Topics 

Students can choose one of the following two topics:

1. “How can we promote and provide Adolescent and youth-friendly reproductive health?”
2. “Reproductive health rights of adolescents and young people”.

1. General Guidelines for Participation

1. The competition is open only to students attending any university in the country;
2. Children or/and related persons of the MoYS Officials or staff are not eligible to enter the competition.
3. Essays must be typed, double-spaced, in 12-point Times New Roman or Arial fonts and have the following word limits:
   1. A minimum of 1,500 words and a maximum of 2,000 words including any tables, references and footnotes.
4. Essays must have a cover page showing:
   1. The name of the student
   2. The age and date of birth of the student,
   3. Parent name and contact address (telephone number),
   4. The name of the University which he/she attends, and
   5. The title of the essay.
5. Entries missing any of the above information will not be considered.
6. Essays must be original (i.e. written in your own words). If information is used from another source, it must be quoted or referenced in the essay.
7. Essays must be written by one person. Co‐authored essays will not be accepted.
8. Essays must be written in English.
9. Essays must be submitted in electronic PDF form (Graphic art and images can be submitted as separate attachments).

1. Submission

The deadline for submission is Tuesday, December 26, 2019 at 1:30 pm Somaliland Time. Electronic submissions should be submitted to

Email: nationalyouthessaycompetition@gmail.com; with the subject “National Youth Essay Competition” and are subject to the guidelines above in article C.

Submission after the deadline will not be considered.

Announcement and Award giving of winners will be on Saturday, 28^th December, 2019. 

1. Evaluation criteria

The judges will be looking for quality essays with the following factors considered:

1. Originality and communication – knowledge about the topic
2. Content – clear and concise arguments to support their view
3. Presentation – spelling, punctuation, grammar and clear structure of the essay (introduction, body and conclusion)
4. Style – overall quality of writing and use of graphic arts, images or videos.

1. Prizes and Awards

The following awards will be given to the winning essays:

• 1^st place students = 1 Laptop = 1HP 17.3” 16GB Memory 1.0TB HD Laptop +

1 SM Galaxy A70 Android smart-phone

• 2^nd place student = 1laptop= Lenovo Ideapad 330 (81D600B0IN) Laptop
• 3^rd place student = 1 SM Galaxy A20 Android smart-phone+ Router Hotspot Alcatel 4G LTE MW40

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS COMPETITION

CONTACT:

NATIONAL YOUTH ESSAY COMPETITION COMMITTEE

Ministry of Youth & Sports

Tel.: (252) 63-4431501 or (252) 63-4429151

Email:  nationalyouthessaycompetition@gmail.com;