In order to further promote peace education in member cities around the world, Mayors for Peace hosts an annual children’s art competition inviting children from 6 to 15 years old who live in Mayors for Peace member cities to submit artworks on the theme of Peace. This is to announce that 52 prize-winning submissions have been selected for 2025, the seventh year of the competition.
The artwork that wins the Mayors for Peace President’s Award will be printed on clear folders which Mayors for Peace will be using to promote awareness of the importance of peace education on various occasions.
Submission period: From April 21 until October 31, 2025
Submissions received by member cities:
Total number of participating cities: 153 cities in 19 countries
Total Number of applications: 8,079 (6 to 10 years old: 4,592, 11 to 15 years old: 3,487)
*In addition to the above, two artworks submitted by the UNESCO Associated Schools Network
Selection results:
6 to 10 years old: the Mayors for Peace President’s Award / the 1st place (1 winner), the 2nd place (2 winners), the 3rd place (3 winners)
11 to 15 years old: the 1st place (1 winner), the 2nd place (2 winners), the 3rd place (3 winners)
Special prize (12 winners)
Mayors for Peace Secretary General Award (28 winners)
Note: One of the first place winners from the two age categories has been selected for the Mayors for Peace President’s Award.
Note: Special prize and Mayors for Peace Secretary General Award winners have been selected regardless of the category.
Prize-winning works
6-10 years old
Mayors for Peace President’s Award / 1st place (1 winner)
Kohei Hosoe in Kawabe, Japan (10 years old)
《Message from the artist》
I drew this because I hope that cultures and buildings around the world will be treasured forever and the people of the world will spend their days being happy.
2nd place (2 winners):
Anahita Boroumand Pour in Shiraz, Iran (10 years old)
《Message from the artist》
My name is Anahita, from Iran. When I saw the news and how much people were fighting, it made me sad. I draw this colourful house to show what peace really means. Everyone from all over the world with different skin colours and languages, living happily together in one big house as friends. My dream is for the Earth to always be full of PEACE, fun and FRIENDS forever.
Ryo Mishima in Hiroshima, Japan (8 years old)
《Message from the artist》
They are eating donuts together and feeling full.
3rd place (3 winners):
Ava Hoseini in Abadeh, Iran (10 years old)
《Message from the artist》
In this painting, a girl flies through the sky with colorful balloons. She represents a child who moves toward a brighter world with hope, friendship, and peace. The warm and vivid colors symbolize kindness and harmony in a world where dreams can rise beyond all boundaries.
Arian Binaei in Yazd, Iran (10 years old)
《Message from the artist》
In my peaceful town. Everyone smiles. Trees hug the sky. And no one is ever alone.
Fuka Awaraguchi in Takayama (Gifu), Japan (10 years old)
《Message from the artist》
I drew people living cheerfully in a rainbow-colored town. The parts I worked hard on were adding fine details to the picture and depicting people looking out from the windows.
11-15 years old
1st place (1 winner)
Hirad Sahebi in Ahwaz, Iran (15 years old)
《Message from the artist》
I would like my entire country to cooperate and empathize so that we can have a prosperous country.
2nd place (2 winners):
Nene Hatano in Hachioji, Japan (15years old)
《Message from the artist》
I created this piece with the hope that “the world will become peaceful enough for us to gaze at a beautiful starry sky.” The figure under the moon represents a wartime soldier. I imagine that the night sky during wartime was often lit bright red by air raids, leaving little to no time for people to gaze at the shining stars. My wish is for a world and communities where those people can freely appreciate the vast nature that was always close by, without concern for time or duty.
Layan Jaradat in Zarka, Jordan (14 years old)
《Message from the artist》
Peace Unites people’s heart despite their differences planting joy and hope along their paths. Together, we create a world filled with love and harmony.
3rd place (3 winners):
Fatemeh Noura Nouri in Mashhad, Iran (14 years old)
《Message from the artist》
In the embrace of colors and the flight of imagination, a child laughs; and the world, for a moment, come to rest…. This is peace.
Talya Süzgeç in Kuşadası, Türkiye (13 years old)
《Message from the artist》
Rumi was a 13th century Sufi poet and philosopher from Anatolia. His teachings emphasize love, inner peace and the unity of all beings-ideas that resonate deeply with Zen and Buddhist thought. He believed that beyond religion and identity, love is the true path to the divine. Peace takes root in a world where differences are seen not as threats, but as treasures. It begins with an inner transformation reflected in outstretched hands and bodies moving in harmony, dancing toward understanding. Harmony with nature depends these roots, allowing peace to grow strong lasting universal symbols transcend language. While culture/ diversity blossoms like colorful flowers across the earth. All of this comes to life in small town where people live side by side, hand in hand, in quiet unity. And in this togetherness the timeless voice of Rumi whispers; “Come, whoever or whatever you are. Come anyway. For true peace begins within the human soul and take root in the soil of love.”
Saki Harada in Hiroshima, Japan (13 years old)
《Message from the artist》
I drew an everyday scene bathed in an orange sunset. I hope that someday, people in countries at war can also live peaceful and happy lives like this.
Special Prize
Isabella Bautista in San Salvador de Jujuy, Argentina (12 years old)
《Message from the artist》
Peace is being in the place you love.
Bahar Arshady Khorasany in Shahrood, Iran (11 years old)
《Message from the artist》
I have depicted a galaxy where human heads appear as planets, all Connected to one another. This connection symbolizes the inner and universal bond among humankind. We are all linked to the divine light-and through it, we become one. It is a reminder of unity, love ,and peace flowing from the sky into the heart of every human being.
Sofiia Abramova in Nova Ushytsia, Ukraine (7 years old)
《Message from the artist》
The drawing is called “Rays of Happiness Under a Peaceful Sky”. Peace is the sun that shines equally brightly for all children. It is the opportunity to laugh freely, raise your hands to the sky and feel the warmth of life. Peace is a blossoming land, a clear sky and happy smiles. It is a world where children’s dreams bloom like flowers in a meadow, and every day begins with hope and joy.
Eli Gosak in Radlje ob Dravi, Slovenia (8 years old)
《Message from the artist》
I drew a city of peace. First, I imagined it and then I drew it. There were meadows, houses, animals, and trees. For me, the city of peace is a calm and beautiful place.
Marius Parton in Chemnitz, Germany (10 years old)
《Message from the artist》
Is it so hard to understand that this is not ” the solution?!” I think it is horrible that there are so many wars on our planets. Every day people and animals die because of war. I want the world to understand that war can never be a solution for any problem.
Zülal Çağman in Fatsa, Türkiye (12 years old)
《Message from the artist》
Wars cause pain to people, but if we are together we can make the world beautiful. We can join hands and turn darkness into light and build a peaceful world. The lantern in my work also represents this.
Jun Fukuyama in Hiroshima, Japan (7 years old)
《Message from the artist》
I drew lots of hearts because I want everyone in the world to be happy forever. The red lines show that we’re all connected—friends across the globe.
Syuya Murakami in Hiroshima, Japan (6 years old)
《Message from the artist》
May our town always be a place where we can play dodgeball in PE class.
Rin Murakami in Hiroshima, Japan (12 years old)
《Message from the artist》
I want to cherish the small moments and simple joys I share with the people who matter most to me.
Lucy Vivian in New Zealand, Tasman (15 years old)
《Message from the artist》
To me, peace means being kind, feeling safe, and living without fighting. Peace is when people from different places and cultures, like in New Zealand and all around the world, get along and care for one another. I see peace in the beach, where the waves are calm and the sky is clear. I see it in animals, living freely in nature without harm. This picture shows peace with bright colours, flags, nature, and symbols. Peace is in music, friendship, and in how we treat the Earth and each other with love and respect.
Francisca Sousa Andrade in Grigny, France (15 years old)
《Message from the artist》
War is the war of men, peace is the war of ideas.
Avery Cater in Rochester (NY), US (10 years old)
《Message from the artist》
Be the light in the dark.
Mayors for Peace Secretary General Award
Please click here to view the Mayors for Peace Secretary General Award winners.