APDIM Call for Photography 2021: Living with Sand and Dust Storms

The Asian and Pacific Centre for the Development of Disaster Information Management (APDIM) is inviting you to share photos showing how you see “Living with Sand and Dust Storms” through your lens. Your photos can show the sand and dust storms phenomenon or the impact of sand and dust storms on socio-economic and environmental sectors including agriculture, cities, energy, environment, human health, and transport.

The photo collection will be used for awareness-raising through APDIM website, social media, events, and webinars as well as analytical publications. The selected photos will be exhibited during webinars on the subject and will be promoted among other UN agencies and showcased at high-level expert and intergovernmental meetings.  The best photos will also be featured in the Sand and Dust Storms Risk Assessment in Asia and the Pacific report.

Please note to include your contact and information including social media accounts so that we can credit you appropriately. All photos must be captioned, including the title, location, and date when the photograph was taken.  Submission must be by the photographer of the photo.

The call is open to both amateur and professional photographers, who have reached the age of 18 at the time of entering the contest and upon acceptance of terms and conditions below.

Please send your photos to: [email protected]  by 21 May 2021.

Why Sand and Dust Storms?

Sand and dust storms present a formidable challenge to sustainable development, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions. Globally, more than 150 countries are affected directly by such storms. The impacts are large scale and affect a range of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to human health, productivity, agriculture, and infrastructure (transport). Reducing the harmful impacts of sand and dust storms will be an important component for the success of multiple SDGs.

The risk belts that comprise source and impacted regions stretch from the tropical and subtropical deserts of the Sahara through the Middle East to the Great Indian Desert and the mid-latitude deserts of Central Asia, China, and Mongolia. With such a wide transboundary impact, managing the sand and dust storm risks requires both global and regional cooperation.

Sand and dust storms photography is one of the strongest and unique ways to convey your message on the negative impact of sand and dust storms through a universal visual language that can be interpreted into something that most people understand and have felt.

APDIM Role in Combating Sand and Dust Storms in Asia and the Pacific

The Asian and Pacific Centre for the Development of Disaster Information Management (APDIM) is a subsidiary body of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). APDIM supports regional cooperation mechanisms for slow-onset disasters including sand and dust storms – involving member countries from West, South West and Central Asia. As one of the members of UN Coalition to UN Coalition on Combatting Sand and Dust Storms APDIM works closely with its key partners including the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and other members of the UN Coalition on Combating Sand and Dust Storms to combat the negative impact of this hazard. 

Specifications for submitted photos

The photo(s) must be submitted as a high-resolution JPEG (as high as your camera will allow). If you do not have a camera of a high quality please still submit your photos but be aware that they will be ineligible to appear in the printed Report but might be used for other awareness-raising purposes.

Basic editing, including colour enhancement, the use of filters, and cropping of the Photo(s) is acceptable, provided any such editing does not affect the authenticity and/or genuineness of the Photo(s). Advanced editing used to create illusions, deceptions and/or manipulations, and the adding and removing of significant elements and watermarks within the frame is prohibited. Stitched panoramas, either produced in-camera or with image editing software is allowed but must be mentioned while submitting the photo (s).

Contact us: [email protected]

Terms and Conditions

• The deadline to submit photos is 21 May 2021.
• The purpose of this call is solely to raise awareness and no prize will be offered to the photos submitted to this call. The best photos will be used for awareness-raising through APDIM website, social media, event and webinars as well as analytical publications.  
• Please note to include your contact and information including social media accounts so that we can credit you appropriately.
• All photos must be captioned, including the title, location, and date when the photograph was taken.  Submission must be by the photographer of the photo.
• The Contest is open to both amateur and professional photographers, who have reached the age of 18 at the time of entering the contest and upon acceptance of terms and conditions.
• Entrants are required to obtain permission from all persons appearing on the photo if they are recognizable, prior to submitting it.
• The entrant holds the rights to his/her photographs; however, by submitting a photo to the call, the photographer grants APDIM a non-exclusive license to display, distribute, reproduce and create derivative works of the entries and texts, in whole or in part, in any media now existing (such as publications, websites, and social media) or subsequently developed, for any educational, promotional, publicity, exhibition, archival, scholarly and all other standard purposes of APDIM. Due credit will be given to the entrant each time his/her photo is used, wherever feasible. Photos and text will not be used for commercial purposes.
• The photo must not contain violence, profanity, gender or direct attacks on individuals or organizations.
• The photo must be an original creation - no copyrighted images may be used.
• The participant must certify and warrant that the submitted photo(s) does not violate the rights of a third party or any copyright. APDIM is not responsible for intellectual property violations that might have resulted through the submissions of photos.