Bangkok, 13 June 2016 – A leading newspaper group in India, in collaboration with the United Nations has launched a catchy comic book series for children and teens to promote awareness of the importance of environmental protection and sustainable resource consumption.
The first issue of ‘Comics for Change’ series, featuring a group of school-going animal cartoon characters and titled ‘Sundarvan Adventures – Mystery of the Missing Water’, was launched in India by Dainik Bhaskar Group, UN Global Compact Network India and the United Nations Environment Programme to mark World Environment Day.
The three-part series aims to promote responsible consumption of water, food and electricity, leveraging the power of visual storytelling to amplify awareness among children and youth about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to minimizing water, food and electricity wastage thereby helping them to become more responsible citizens.
“Using superheroes to weave stories around issues that matter to us is an interesting way to bring about a significant change in the society by creating super heroes of tomorrow,” said Mr Girish Agarwal, Director, Dainik Bhaskar Group, India’s largest newspaper group with editions in major Indian languages and in English.
In a message for the launch, Acting Regional Director, UNEP Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Ms. Isabelle Louis said: “The launch of this comic book series in India for children and teens to help them better understand the importance of environmental conservation and a sustainable lifestyle, strengthens UNEP's World Environment Day global advocacy of awareness and action to protect our environment.”
With more than 500 million people under the age of 20, India has one of the world's largest youthful populations which will play a key role in setting the nation on a sustainable development path that will be transformational for both people and planet.
Ms. Lise Kingo, Executive Director, UN Global Compact, New York in a message said: “The UN Global Compact’s Ten Universal Principles provide a universal definition for responsible businesses. Global challenges like food and water crises are in need of contribution from the private sector. Companies that do business responsibly find opportunities to innovate around sustainability will be the business leaders of tomorrow”.
UN Global Compact Network India Executive Director, Mr. Pooran Chandra Pandey, said: “I would like to congratulate Dainik Bhaskar to come up with such a wonderful initiative to make children aware of Sustainable Development Goals, also called as Global Goals, pertaining to Water and Climate action”.
Dainik Bhaskar Group is a signatory to the UN Global Compact Network and the Group’s CSR initiatives contribute to SDGs related to Quality Education, Zero Hunger, Clean Water and Sanitation, Sustainable Cities and Communities and Climate Action.
The first comic in the series tells the story of the fun-loving, energetic rabbit Adi, who along with his adventurous school friends including a jovial little parrot Cheenu, a pretty little doe Roli and an intelligent tortoise Golu, save the day and water for Sundarvan village by foiling the villainous water-stealing jackal Paplu Bhai. The other two comics will be cover sustainable food and electricity use. ‘Comics for Change’ will also amplify awareness among children and youth about SDGs related to climate action.
The free e-comic can be downloaded at:
http://i10.dainikbhaskar.com/dainikbhaskar2016/images/Comics-For-Change.pdf
For more information, please contact:
Gautam Dey, Dhainik Bhaskar, Mobile: +91 9644667779, Email: gautam.dey@dbcorp.in
Ms. Satwant Kaur, UNEP, Tel: + (66 2) 2882127; Mobile: +(66 8) 17001376, Email: satwant.kaur@unep.org
