A 17-year-old student from Indonesia has won the UNICEF and Comics Uniting Nations’ worldwide comic contest with her creation of a character who helps keep children and young people safe from violence in and around schools.
Rajwa, also known as Cipta, is a 15-year-old who can turn her drawings into real-life objects and control them to stop school violence. PICTURE: UNICEF/UN0258317/
Rizka Raisa Fatimah Ramli, from Makassar in South Sulawesi, is the creator of ‘Cipta’, a superhero who gives children a sketchbook to draw objects that then come to life and stop violence and bullying.
Rizka says she created Cipta “to draw attention to the violence and bullying that children in Indonesia and around the world face every day”.
“Through drawing, I feel that my character is alive and I have control over bullies. I hope I can inspire many people, especially children, to tell their stories and if they can’t say it directly, to do so through drawing.”
Rizka will now collaborate with a professional team to create a full-length comic book starring Cipta which will then be presented to world leaders at the UN in July this year. She will also have a mentoring session with comic artist Gabriel Picolo.
The contest was launched in October last year and invited children and young people to create a comic superhero that could defeat ‘The Silence’, a supernatural character that uses its powers to stop children from speaking up and taking action against violence in and around schools.
Nearly 3,600 submissions were received from people in more than 130 countries. More than 23,000 people voted on the contest website to determine the winner.
