The winners of an online essay competition styled “Population and Development 2012”, organised by the UNFPA, with guests at a hotel in the capital yesterday. Photo: Focus Bangla

Students of educational institutions across the country articulated their opinions on population and development in an essay competition organised by UNFPA.
The competition styled “Population and Development 2012” was launched on July 11 through Facebook and came to an end yesterday with an award-giving ceremony held at a hotel in the capital, where the top essay writers were recognised, said a press release.
The main objective of the online competition was to involve and engage the youth in disseminating messages on population, development and reproductive health, said UNFPA country representative Arthur Erken.
A total of 325 essays, exploring topics such as Millennium Development Goals, women empowerment and maternity mortality situation in Bangladesh, were submitted for the competition.
Winning Tk 20,000 each, the four participants received first prize for their essays are Shegufta Armin Hasan of Viqarunnisa Noon School, Rose Lee Chakma of Rangamati Govt Girls High School, Abdullah Hasan Safir of Notre Dame College, and Kaisar Ahmed of Chittagong Cantonment Public College.
Prominent writer Anisul Haque was present at the ceremony among others.