WSIS Photo Contest 2026

General Rules

1. By entering the WSIS Photo Contest 2026 (the “Contest”), you hereby warrant that all information submitted by you is true, current and complete. The International Telecommunication Union (the “Organizer”) reserves the right to verify the eligibility of all participants.

2. By entering the Contest, you accept the present terms and conditions.

3. No purchase of payment of any kind is required to enter or win the Contest.

4. The Contest will be administered by the Organizer through the WSIS Forum 2026 website; please follow the instructions under the WSIS Photo Contest 2026.

5. The Contest is open to all WSIS stakeholders from governments, private sector, civil society, academia, technical community and international organizations. Individuals must be older than 18 years of age at the time of entry to be considered eligible to participate and win in the Contest.

6. The Organizer does not provide the equipment or technical/communication infrastructure necessary to participate, create and submit an entry to the Contest.

7. Applicants must not be an employees (or members of an employee’s nuclear family or household) of ITU or holding an offer for future employment with ITU.

8. All entries must be submitted in English.

9. All entries, regardless of categories, must not: (a) violate the intellectual property rights of third parties; (b) be illegal under applicable national laws and international law; and (c) depict or incite hatred, defame, abuse, harass, stalk, threaten a specific person or social group, incite violence or conflict or otherwise violate the legal rights of third parties (including those of privacy and publicity).

10. Winners are invited to attend workshops during WSIS Forum 2026 and take part in activities organized within the programme at WSIS Forum 2026.

Material specifications

The Contest shall consider only those submissions that fulfil the following requirements:

1. A maximum of 5 entries may be submitted by a photographer.

2. To enter the contest – all entries must include the official entry form available on the WSIS Forum 2026 website.

3. Photos must be submitted with a title, date shot, location, and caption (maximum 100 words) and details of the photographer.

4. Entries will only be accepted in digital format and must not be digitally enhanced or manipulated in any way.

5. Image files should be 8 megabytes or smaller, must be in .jpg or .png format, and must have at least 2Mpx (capture resolution of at least 1600x1200 pixels).

6. Photos should neither violate the rights of a third party, nor contain offensive content.

7. Images must not be watermarked.

8. Photos that have won awards in other photographic contests will not be considered.

9. Photos that have been published earlier will not be considered.

10. Photos must be sent by: 23:00 (CET), 20 March 2026

11. The organizers have the right to exclude photos if they do not conform to the above conditions.

Selection and Prizes

1. The selection of winners and finalists will be made by a selection committee determined by the Organizer, based on a number of substantial criteria (primarily based on the social impact potential). Decisions of the selection committee are final and without appeal.

2. The winners of Contest shall be determined by the selection committee and will be announced at the WSIS Forum 2026. The Organizer will notify the winners via email prior to the announcement and invite them to attend the WSIS Forum 2026.

3. Each of the winners will receive prizes. The winners will receive the prizes during the WSIS Forum 2026.

4. The winning entries in the WSIS photo contest will be invited to participate in ITU’s #ICT4SDG campaign which highlights the many ways ICTs are contributing in addressing all the SDGs. A dedicated poster and other campaign materials highlighting their work will be created and shared within ITU and its stakeholders and the winner will have full use of all the material created.

Exhibition

An exhibition will be held during the WSIS Forum 2026 (6-10 July 2026) and selected photos will be exhibited. The exhibition will continue to be displayed at ITU HQ in Geneva onwards.

Travel and Visa

The Contest shall consider only those submissions that fulfil the following requirements:

1. Winners must hold a valid passport for the duration of the travel and will be requested to supply a copy of their passport for prize arrangements.

2. The Organizer shall not be responsible for the travel and accommodation arrangements and costs, as well as daily subsistence allowance for the winners for the purpose of attending WSIS Forum 2026. Upon notification that a winner is invited to WSIS Forum 2026, acceptance must be confirmed within one week by the winner. If confirmation is not received within the aforementioned period, the Organizer reserves the right to withdraw its invitation, by notifying the winner accordingly.

Copyright

All applicants will retain the intellectual property rights on the contents of their submissions. However, by entering the Contest, each applicant grants the Organizer a limited, non-exclusive, global, royalty-free right and license to use, reproduce, communicate, demonstrate, make available for public, display and distribute the content of his/her submission for the Organizer’s marketing, promotional, informational and educational or awareness purposes, via printed or digital or online media, including the Organizer’s website. The applicant hereby represents that he/she has the legal right to grant such license to the Organizer.

General Terms of Use

WSIS Photo Contest photos may be used to further the aims and work of the WSIS process. They cannot be used for advertising, marketing or in ways which are inconsistent with the our mission. UN photos cannot be altered, sold, redistributed or used to create derivative works. UN photos and/or related metadata may not be archived in any digital asset management system or database without the prior approval of the WSIS Secretariat.

All interested parties are invited to use WSIS Photo Contest photos for free but must follow the conditions of an attribution guidelines (this allows all to distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon their work non-commercially, as long as photos are credited WSIS Photo Contest with the watermark in digital use or with credit line for paper copies of the photos. For the use of paper copies, all are requested to contact us for further confirmation of use.

Other conditions

1. By entering the Contest, applicants agree to release and hold harmless the Organizer from and against any and all claims, expenses, and liability, including but not limited to negligence and damages of any kind to persons and property, infringement of trademark, copyright or other intellectual property rights arising out of or relating to their participation in the Contest and the contents of their submissions.

2. The Organizer reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any submission which does not comply with the present Terms and Conditions.

3. The Organizer is not responsible for lost, late, corrupted, mutilated or misdirected submissions, or submissions not received in time for judging.

4. Applicants in the Contest are not allowed to use the titles, acronyms and logos of the Organizer and the WSIS Forum logo or other branding elements on material that was produced by them.

5. The Organizer shall have the right, in its sole discretion, to abbreviate, modify, suspend, cancel or terminate the Contest without any future obligation, by notifying the applicants via an announcement at www.wsis.org/forum.

6. The Organizer reserves the right to make all final decisions. Nothing herein shall be considered to be a limitation or a waiver of the privileges and immunities of the ITU, which are specifically reserved.

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All necessary information for the Contest shall be announced on the WSIS Forum 2026. For any additional queries regarding the competition rules, please contact wsis-photocontest@itu.int.