On 8th December 2016, Rwanga Foundation yet once again hosted Rwanga Awards 2016 this year in The Conference Hall of Duhok governorate.

The ceremony was attended by many artists, writers, journalists, diplomats, winners with their families and youths. In the presence of a huge packed audience in the hall, winners of the competition were announced and prizes were awarded by various high profile dignitaries from throughout the region. A total of  8 young eligible people were awarded prizes in different categories such as Photography, Recycling Arts, Short Film, Solo Musician, Short Story writing, Entrepreneurship, Drawing and Scientific Invention.

The awards function commenced with a group of Duhok and Sharia dancers performing the Kurdish Flag activity.

The winners for 2016 included:

Zrebar Muxtar Abdullah from Sulaimani – in the Entrepreneurship category

Omar Nashwan Hazim an IDP from Mosul – in the Photography category

Shivan khatab Khaleed from Erbil – in the Recycled Art category

Jamsheer Ekram Saaed from TosKhurmatw – in the Scientific Innovation category

Bahoz Ismail Abdullah from Koya – in the Short Film category

Ranj Rasul Raza from Garmian – in the Short Story category

Rabun Shabaan Saed from Erbil – in the Solo Musician category and

Faris Safar Muhamad from Kirkuk – in the Drawing category.

Rwanga Foundation also felicitated Barzani Charity Foundation for their continuous efforts in supporting the humanitarian projects especially in the last two years to aid the IDPs and refugees in Kurdistan.

The Kurdish star singers Karwan Kamil and Chopy Fatah performed with beautiful songs in celebration of the awards ceremony along with Duhok traditional and Sharia groups performing the traditional dance amongst the distinguished guests, KRG representatives, local/international organizations’ representatives.

Rwanga Awards provides a unique opportunity for youths in Kurdistan to participate in celebrating their talent. Rwanga Awards officially started in 2014 and for the last two years the awards ceremony took place in different cities such as Erbil for 2014 and Sulaimani for 2015. This year for 2016 the awards ceremony took place in Duhok province.

Rwanga Foundation provides the platform (Rwanga Annual Awards) to find the best talents and celebrate on the special events night. The aim of this project is to discover and encourage youth talent in Kurdistan and support them to further develop their positive skills and projects.

The Rwanga Awards 2016 is sponsored by (Diamond - Phonetic Tone, Gold - Carrefour Hypermarket, Legacy Construction,  Rixos Hotel Duhok, Life, Hawkari Group, MONO ART, Silver - Darin Plaza, GEG, Babylon, South Kurdistan Oil).