A ceremony to award winners of the national stage of Eco Picture Diary 2014 international contest has been held at the Heydar Aliyev Palace.

Vice President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, the founder and head of International Dialogue for Environmental Action (IDEA) Leyla Aliyeva attended the ceremony.

Initiated by IDEA, the contest was carried by the Heydar Aliyev Center and Panasonic out under the auspices of UNESCO.

Held in Azerbaijan for the second time, the contest saw a total of 5,000 eco diaries circulated among schoolchildren in the cities of Baku and Ganja. Some 3,050 of the diaries were filled up and submitted to the organizers, who then picked up 20 finalists.

Addressing the ceremony, Leyla Aliyeva congratulated the winners. She praised the fact that IDEA campaign involved many young people and was dedicated to addressing environmental problems.

Leyla Aliyeva hailed the activities of IDEA, saying a lot of successful projects have been implemented under the campaign.

Japanese Ambassador to Azerbaijan Tsuguo Takahashi hailed what has been done to strengthen the protection of environment in the country.

UNICEF Representative in Azerbaijan Andro Shilakadze praised schoolchildren`s new approach to solving environmental problems.

Other speakers noted the importance of Eco Picture Diary international contest, which was launched in 2008, describing it as a remarkable step towards increasing schoolchildren`s awareness of environmental issues.

Vice President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Leyla Aliyeva handed a diploma and gifts to Aylin Yahyazade, a pupil of Classic Gymnasium No 160, who won the national stage of the contest.

Other 19 winners of the national stage also received certificates and presents.

The ceremony featured demonstration of a promotional video about Eco Picture Diary.