Big problems. Young writers. One goal at a time.

Pharos is an essay competition for students, with a Junior category (14 and under) and an Open category (any age), built around the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Who we are

We're student volunteers who think young people should have a say on the world's biggest problems, and that writing about them can do some real good. Each edition takes one goal, asks three questions, and is a fundraiser for The Assembly Soup Kitchen (T.A.S.K).

About us

Built on the Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, every UN member state agreed to 17 goals to reach by 2030 (source: the UN's Sustainable Development Goals page). We focus on the ones about fairness: poverty, hunger, education, gender equality, inequality, and justice.

Goals we focus on

  • Poverty
  • Hunger
  • Education
  • Gender equality
  • Inequality
  • Justice

Why Pharos?

A light for strangers.

Pixel mosaic of a white lighthouse at dusk, its lamp casting a beam across a blue sea to a small sailing boat.

The Pharos was the lighthouse of Alexandria: one of the Seven Wonders, guiding ships safely in beside the greatest library of the ancient world. It was built stone by stone. So is a fairer world, and every essay is one more stone.

What we do

The competition

One SDG per edition, judged by humans.

See the competition

The blog

Essays and explainers on the SDGs.

Read the blog

Volunteering

Volunteering with The Assembly Soup Kitchen (T.A.S.K).

Find out on Instagram (opens in a new tab)

Inaugural edition: Goal 2, Zero Hunger

Tile mosaic of a plate of nasi lemak: a dome of white rice, a halved egg, sambal, peanuts and cucumber slices on a banana leaf.

Inaugural edition: Goal 2, Zero Hunger

Your essay can feed someone.

This edition is a fundraiser for The Assembly Soup Kitchen (T.A.S.K). Opens 16 November 2026.

See the competition

Get told when entries open

We will only email you once, when entries open. Privacy notice

Or follow along on Instagram @pharosprize

See the competition