This year, USAID celebrates the 40th anniversary of its partnership with Mozambique! There is no better way to celebrate that partnership than through beautiful images. A picture captures a moment, but also tells a story. We want to see the stories your photos tell about how Mozambique has changed in the past four decades. As the United States government’s lead agency for development and disaster assistance, USAID supports many sectors in Mozambique, including agriculture, health, education, conservation and biodiversity, economic growth, and democracy and governance. We would love to see beautiful photographs that capture these broad themes. Selected photos will be featured on USAID’s digital platforms including the USAID website, Facebook page, and Twitter account. The photos will also be featured in a wide variety of public materials. There will be several categories of winners, including: Overall winner, People’s Choice (decided by public vote), and three Honorable Mentions. Total prizes for all categories are worth 150,000 Mts.
CONTEST DURATION
Photos must be submitted by May 3, 2024. Winners will be announced by May 17, 2024.
WHO CAN JOIN?
The contest is open to all professional and amateur photographers in Mozambique.
SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
Each participant is allowed to submit one photo only. Participants must submit their photo through this email address: mozambiquedoc@usaid.gov. Those that will be submitted through other means will be automatically disqualified.
PHOTO IMAGE/REQUIREMENTS
- High-resolution, high-quality photos that are at least 1024 pixels or larger (tall or wide) or around 300 pixels per inch. Please send us the highest resolution version of the photo you have (at least 2 - 25 MB maximum file size).
- Accepted formats: high-quality JPG and JPEG.
- Photos must each be an original submission (submitted by the photographer or with permission) and not previously submitted to a USAID photo contest or other. Watermarked photos and those that have been previously submitted or have won in any local or international photography contest will be disqualified.
- Photos must include a credit: name of the photographer and organizational affiliation (if applicable).
- Photos featuring recognizable faces of adults or children must be accompanied by an informed consent document. This document should contain explicit agreement, typically involving the photographer(s), the child, their parents or guardians, and sometimes their institution or community.
- Each photo must include a unique, robust caption. This caption (2-5 sentences at most) should include a description of what is going on in the photo, who is involved, and where it was taken, and how it is a part of or relates to USAID’s work in Mozambique.
- Photos must not be digitally altered (colorizing, toning, collage, photo composites, stitched panorama, high dynamic range HDR images etc.) and/or enhanced in any way. Only simple cropping, minor adjustments in color, sharpness, contrast, or digital equivalents are allowed.
- Submissions with a logo or time stamp visible on top of the photo will not be accepted.
- Photos must be taken within the last three years.
- Photos must be in color (black and white or sepia photos will be automatically disqualified).
Some examples of the themes we are looking for: photos we’re looking for (no photos of meetings, please!):
- Healthcare
- Nutrition
- Women’s empowerment
- Safer Drinking Water and Sanitation
- Research and innovation in any field
- Family Planning
- Strong Media (radio, print, TV)
- Good Governance
- Climate-Smart Agriculture
- Youth Engagement
- Humanitarian Assistance
- Primary Education
- Empowering People Living with Disabilities
Selection of Winners
PRE-SCREENING
USAID staff will pre-screen all the submitted entries to ensure that entries meet contest guidelines and have no violent content, nudity, or obscenity.
SCORING
A panel of USAID staff will evaluate and score photos for creativity and originality, visual impact, and photographic quality. Qualified photos will then be posted on USAID/Mozambique’s Facebook page for viewing and public voting. Winners will be determined by combining the USAID panel’s score (50%) with the results of public voting (50%). The decision is final and cannot be appealed.
ANNOUNCEMENT OF WINNERS
We’ll notify you via email if your photo has won and publicly on Facebook and X/Twitter. The selected photos will be showcased on the USAID/Mozambique website, Facebook page, and X/Twitter accounts.
DISCLAIMER
- USAID reserves the right to disqualify any photograph or image at any time for any cause.
- Submission of entries to the contest indicates full permission granted to USAID to use the photographs, with proper credit to the photographer in USAID and other advocacy materials.
- Participants agree to the disclosure and publication of their full names in any photo, publicity or other media arrangement made by USAID related to the announcement of the results of the photo contest.
- USAID reserves the right to cancel the contest at any time for any reason without any obligation to furnish any explanation.
By submitting a photograph to this competition, you:
- Declare that you own the copyright of the photograph, and it is your original work.
- Declare that you have permission to use the visual image of any identifiable individual or building in the photograph for entry into the competition and that the image may be published as stipulated in the photo contest rules.
- Agree that USAID and/or other individual U.S. Government (USG) partners who use the photo will not be responsible for the infringement of any third party rights in the photograph, moral or otherwise, that may arise as a result of your actions or omissions and that you indemnify USAID and/or other individual USG partners against all legal fees, claims, damages and other expenses that may be incurred as a result of your breach of the contest rules.
- Grant reproduction rights for USAID and the interagency use and in doing so agree that USAID and/or other individual USG partners can use your photograph for the purposes of the competition and for future reproduction on print products, website, in social media, literature and other materials at USAID’s and/or other individual USG partners’ discretion (photographs will be credited where appropriate).