The US Agency for International Development (USAID) on July 24 announced awards of a video contest it launched in January 2015 to encourage Vietnamese youth’s engagement in addressing the country’s development challenges.

The competition received more than 50 entries of students from 36 universities across the nation. The videos highlight a number of social issues, ranging from environmental pollution, education, transport, orphans and street children, urbanization, agricultural development to the conservation of historical relic sites and traditional arts.

The first prize went to a video clip calling for environmental protection through recycling of Nguyen Quang Co, Do Huy Tao and Le Thi Thu Thao, while the second prize was presented to Hoang Trieu To with his work on education for ethnic minority children.

Vo Thi Minh Ngoc’s video that encourages people to ride bicycle to protect the environment won the third prize.

Through the contest, USAID wants to understand more about Vietnamese youth’s ideas and approaches in addressing development-related issues, so that it can design projects that better support them and help them become part of the solution to today’s development challenges.-VNA