Phnom Penh, Cambodia: ".... I decided to share the photo I took few years back during my field trip to a community in Kampong Cham province, about 120 kilometres northeast of Phnom Penh, where I met a midwife conducting health check-ups for pregnant women," said Taing Chhin Sothy, the winner of the 2011 CCIM-UNFPA Photo Competition on maternal and child health.
The world population will reach 7 billion by 31 October 2011, according to the United Nations Population Division. This global milestone presents a challenge, an opportunity, and a call to action. The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) is conducting a campaign to raise awareness of this momentous occasion and the opportunities and challenges facing a world of 7 billion people.
In Cambodia, a Photo Competition with the theme "maternal and child health" was launched in late April as part of 7 Billion Actions. This was an opportunity for photographers to share stories from different angles with everyone, including politicians, service providers, media and the general public. The photographer can play a crucial role in raising social awareness and promoting change.
Having seen the announcement of the competition, Taing Chhin Sothy, who has been worked in the field of photography for several years, studied his photo and decided that it captured the theme of maternal and child health.
"... We, the photographers have a big role and responsibility to bring unseen, unheard and untold stories to attention but we also have to be careful about how we do it.. As we present people in our pictures we might put them at risk so we should respect their identity and dignity, said Sothy.
"This photo tells us the information: a midwife knows both mother and her unborn baby by using the fetoscope, however, it's not good to take wide shot of the woman's belly. She gives advice to the pregnant woman and the other women we can see sitting in the background about how to care for their health and unborn baby", said Mr. Taing, explaining his photo to audience at the award ceremony held at the Cambodian Center for Independent Media on 10 August 2011.
Maternal death is preventable but to achieve this, we need effective partnership and participation of all sections of society and everyone - photographers can play important role in making the underlying issues visible", said Dr Marc Derveeuw, UNFPA Representative in Cambodia.
Presenting prizes to the winning photographers, Dr Marc Derveeuw, UNFPA Representative in Cambodia explained that as the world is reaching 7 billion people, we need to look at many related issues including natural resources, poverty and inequality, gender, young people, reproductive health and rights, ageing, the environment and urbanization. The world is more interconnected than ever before, creating enormous possibilities to share information and ideas that can influence actions at community and global level.
As a reward, Mr. Taing Chhin Sothy received a US$ 300 dollar prize for the first place, followed by 2nd place, Mr. Wayne McCallum who received US$ 200 while Mr. Drew McDowell in 3rd place won US$ 150.
As we are living in an age of new technology, we have the opportunity to see what is happening around the world through the media. Similarly, to tackle the high maternal mortality ratio in Cambodia, the media should take such social issues to their hearts. Pa Nguon Teang, Executive Director of the Cambodian Center for Independent Media confirms the role of media in striving for social change and believes that everybody should work hand in hand to address the common issue of maternal and child health which is a top priority for Cambodia at the moment. "The people in the photos could be our brothers, sisters, mothers ... and they are people from our community who share the same country and planet", said Mr. Pa.
"... I'm so proud to stand beside the photo I took myself and receive appreciation from friends, colleagues and the audience and I'm glad that my work is well-liked", said Vanndeth, one of the contestants.
