AKIPRESS.COM - The European Union Delegation on July 1 held an award ceremony for the drawing contest “People working at borders”, held in the framework of the Border Management Programme in Central Asia.

The competition was announced on May, 15 2016 and invited children (9-14 y.o.) to present their vision on border guards’ work and daily life in an artistic way.

The wider objective of the contest was to deepen understanding of the general public of the work of the border guard agencies - to facilitate the positive attitude of children towards people carrying duties at borders, to express their understanding of the professionalism and cooperation of people working at borders while at the same time to encourage children to demonstrate their talents and creativity .

In total, 119 drawings were received by BOMCA Office in Kyrgyzstan from the whole country.

“It was very difficult to choose the winners. Each child’s drawing, submitted for the competition, is unique and deserves an award. We are very pleased to see such a dedication from so many talented children,” says Raitis Tiliks, BOMCA Regional Manager.

The selecting committee, consisting of the representatives of the European Union, BOMCA programme and State Border Service of the Kyrgyz Republic, unanimously selected the winners: 1st place - Dastan Djamaev (12 y.o, Osh city), 2nd place - Aziz Degenbaev (10 y.o, Bishkek), 3rd place - Elima Chyimylova (9 y.o Bishkek). In addition to the main awards, more than 20 children were given honorary awards, drawing kits and special prizes from the BOMCA Regional Manager personally. Each participant received a certificate of appreciation.

First BOMCA operations began in Central Asia in 2003, and since then, BOMCA has strengthened partnership of the Central Asia Governments in the field of border management. The European Union allocated a sum of EUR 33.6 million to BOMCA for the period of 2003 – 2014 and almost EUR 5 million for its 9 th implementation phase (2015 - 2018).