The prestigious UNICEF Photo of the Year 2025 awards have been announced, honouring photographers who have captured the stark realities and quiet resilience of children facing adversity across the globe. The top prizes were awarded for powerful series documenting the lives of girls in Afghanistan, the impact of air pollution on Mongolian children, and childhoods spent in the shadow of India's coal mines.
First Prize: The Unseen Strength of Afghan Girls
French photographer Elise Blanchard secured the first prize with her poignant series, 'Girlhood in Afghanistan'. Her work documents the lives of girls and young women since the Taliban's return to power in August 2021, which has systematically stripped away their fundamental rights. Blanchard's winning image features Hajira, a young girl from a remote, impoverished village in Nangarhar province, who represents the 'quiet but unwavering resilience' of millions of Afghan girls denied secondary education for over four years.
Blanchard's project took her to radio stations, hidden schools, and workshops in Kabul and distant mountain villages. She witnessed the devastating consequences of drought and poverty, including families being forced to marry off girls as young as seven. Her photographs reveal a profound sense of hopelessness, such as that of a 13-year-old battling depression by teaching younger neighbourhood girls to read and write.
Second and Third Prizes: Environmental and Industrial Perils
The second prize was awarded to Natalya Saprunova for her series 'Mongolia’s Children at Risk', which exposes the catastrophic impact of air pollution. In the capital, Ulaanbaatar—home to nearly half of Mongolia's 3.5 million people—particulate pollution from coal burning blankets the city. Saprunova's images show four-year-olds hospitalised with respiratory illnesses, children undergoing lung X-rays, and the brown clouds that rise from countless chimneys into air that can plunge to -30°C. This pollution, accounting for 70% of the country's energy, is estimated to contribute to about 10% of all deaths.
Indian photographer Sourav Das won third prize for 'Children in Jharia’s Coal Mines', documenting childhoods consumed by the struggle for survival in one of India's largest coalfields. Here, children breathe air from smouldering underground fires, carry sacks instead of schoolbooks, and drink filthy water. Despite Indian law prohibiting labour under age 14, violations are rampant, and children are seen scuttling from mine entrances or living in ruins where the ground has collapsed beneath their homes.
Honourable Mentions and Exhibition Details
Seven other photo series received honourable mentions, highlighting crises from Afghanistan, Gaza, South Africa, Ukraine, and the UK. These include work by British photographer Laura Pannack on the perilous journey home from school in gang-affected areas of Cape Town, and Danish photographer Emilie Toldam's series 'Miss Vogue', following a nine-year-old participant in the UK's child beauty pageant circuit, which sees about 10,000 child entrants annually.
An exhibition of all the awarded work will be held at the Haus der Bundespressekonferenz in Berlin until the end of January 2026. It will then move to the Willy Brandt Haus, also in Berlin, from 30 January to 26 April 2026.
