UNICEF Photo of the Year 2025
First Prize: Elise Blanchard, France: Afghanistan: Girlhood in Afghanistan. French photographer Elise Blanchard has gone to great lengths to document the living conditions of girls in Afghanistan. She met girls like ten-year-old Hajira, who has little time left in elementary school and tirelessly studies textbooks at home.
Second Prize: Natalya Saprunova, France/Russia: Mongolia: Mongolia’s children at risk: The devastating impact of air pollution. Natalya Saprunova captured the extent to which children in Mongolia are affected by air pollution.
Third Prize: Sourav Das, India: India: Children in Jharia’s coal mines lose childhood to smoke, fire, and endless survival. Indian photographer Sourav Das has documented the fate of children in Jharia, the infamous “burning city,” home to one of India’s largest coal mines for about a hundred years.
© Text: Peter-Matthias Gaede for UNICEF Photo of the Year 2025
