Awards ceremony and public exhibition at Geneva’s Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, 10 June, photographs from nine countries bear witness to connectivity during emergencies
Geneva, 4 June 2026 – Giga, the UNICEF–ITU initiative that helps governments to connect every school in the world to the internet, today announced the winners of the Giga Photo Award 2026. The awards ceremony and exhibition preview will take place on Wednesday, 10 June 2026 at the Musée d’art et d’histoire (MAH) in Geneva.
The second edition of the award, themed The Urgency of Connectivity, drew 4,747 submissions from 724 photographers across 97 countries reflecting the global resonance of digital access as one of the defining challenges of our time.
About the Giga Photo Award
Launched in 2025, the Giga Photo Award uses documentary photography to make visible the human realities behind a global data challenge: more than one in three people on Earth- 2.2 billion individuals remain offline. Winners were selected by an international panel of professional judges alongside a student jury from HEAD–Genève, Geneva’s school of art and design.
“Connectivity is infrastructure for survival. The photographs in this award translate an abstract system into lived experience and make the urgency impossible to ignore.” — Christopher Fabian, Lead, Digital Inclusion, UNICEF, and Co-founder, Giga
The Winning Images
The winning photographs and series span nine countries across four continents, forming what the award calls an Image Atlas, a collective portrait of a world in which connectivity has become infrastructure for survival.
The winning images range from incarcerated women in Argentina for whom mobile phones became lifelines for family contact and education (Inside Prison – ‘The Phone Is Everything’, Magali Druscovich), to a rural practitioner navigating connectivity gaps in western Sichuan (Tibetan Country Doctor, Jake Homovich, China); from the Gen Z-led protests in Kenya where social media became the central architecture for collective action (From Streets to Screens: A Generation Rises, Samson Otieno), to a one-man news channel kept alive during Omdurman’s prolonged blackouts (Sudan, Faiz Abubakr Mohamed).
“ Hosting this award at the MAH aligns naturally with our vision of the modern museum as a ‘multi-frequency’ institution. A museum’s role is no longer confined to preserving objects within four walls; it is about amplifying the world’s narratives. The theme of this edition, The Urgency of Connectivity, directly questions our shared intellectual heritage and how we transmit knowledge.” Marc-Olivier Wahler, Director, Musée d’art et d’histoire, Geneva
Awards Ceremony & Exhibition — Geneva, 10 June 2026
The ceremony and exhibition preview on 10 June will bring together award-winning photographers, diplomats, representatives of international organisations, and cultural leaders.
The public exhibition runs from 25 June to 2 August 2026 at the Promenade St. Antoine, Geneva.
About Giga
Giga is a partnership between UNICEF and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), established in 2019 to help governments connect every school to the internet and give every young person access to information, opportunity, and choice. Giga and its partners have mapped more than 2.2 million schools and increased connectivity for more than 24,000 schools, benefiting approximately 11 million students. For more information: www.giga.global
About Musée d’art et d’histoire de Genève: MAH
With approximately 650,000 objects spanning 15,000 years of history, the Musée d’art et d’histoire (MAH) in Geneva, directed by Marc-Olivier Wahler, is one of Switzerland’s leading museums and a major reference point in Europe. Founded in 1910 and housing a collection that spans archaeology, fine arts, graphic arts, applied arts, as well as watchmaking, jewelry, and numismatics, it stands out for its ability to foster a dialogue between heritage and contemporary creation.
Through an eclectic program featuring exhibitions, performances, concerts, discussions, and wellness activities, it reaffirms its role as a committed cultural institution attuned to social issues. The Rath Museum, the Maison Tavel, and the Library of Art and Archaeology are affiliated with it.
Media Contact
For press accreditation, images, and interview requests:
Nobuntu Ndlovu, UNICEF (Giga) [email protected]
Daniel Ginsinamung, UNICEF (Giga) Geneva — [email protected]
High-resolution winning photographs are available upon request. https://gigaphotoaward.global/2026-winners