THE International Photographic Council (IPC), an NGO of the United Nations, has awarded Muzammil Izhar Siddiqui from Pakistan the IPC Distinguished Service Award-2012.

At the annual IPC Pro Award ceremony held recently at the UN headquarters in New York, the award was given for Mr Saddiqui’s services rendered for the promotion of peace in Pakistan and abroad through his photographs.

The other recipient of the award was Ms Machiko Ouchi from Japan, who is editor-in-chief of a weekly magazine.

The IPC which was founded in 1974 follows the motto ‘Peace through understanding, understanding through photograph, the universal language’. The United Nations and IPC have co-produced many photographic exhibitions addressing major global issues such as population growth, aging, endangered species and other sensitive issues.

Mr Siddiqui was chosen as a member of the IPC due to his untiring efforts to promote photography here and to bring awareness of social issues to the fore through his images.

Having been in this field for nearly 15 years as an amateur, Mr Siddiqui teaches photography at university level and is a guest editor of a Japanese weekly Pen News. He also organises shows and takes out an Urdu photographic magazine Fotoline.